After
by BookAddiction24
Summary: Rue dies and goes up to heaven. She thinks this is the end of her life, but could it really be a whole new beginning?
1. Into the World

I finally reach the door. I don't know how long I've been walking. All I know is that I'm really tired.

"Hello Rue," I hear a voice come from behind me. I turn around to see a beautiful man with a halo. He has brown hair, blue eyes, and a beautiful smile. He also has excellent posture and is a little taller than me. He looks about my age. I see his stomach and finally I remembermy stomach_._ I look at it to see that the nasty hole left by the spear is gone. Then I look back up to the beautiful boy. I'm guessing he's an angel.

"How do you know my name?" I ask him.

"I'm your angel. I keep watch over you-," he begins.

"So, are you supposed to keep me safe or something? Because if you are, you're not very good at your job," I interrupt. After all, I am dead.

"No, that was another angel's job. Up until the reaping he was doing a great job, but he got sick around the time of the reaping. He fell behind in work and couldn't prevent you from being pulled from the reaping ball. After all the tributes are selected, fate is sealed for them. He just couldn't help you. After this particular reaping, fate was sealed for almost everyone in Panem," he explains.

"What do you mean?" I ask him.

"This reaping was very um...special. The victors of these Hunger Games will change the world forever." he tells me.

"What did you mean, and did you just, DID YOU JUST SAY THE VICTORS?" I ask him as I realize what was implied.

"Oh no! I've revealed too much about this. I'm sorry, but you're just too stressed out right now. You've had a long jorney here and um...I was suppossed to wait until tomorrow to tell you. Although I can tell you something else," he says, trying to assure me that I was being informed with what was happening.

I see the look in his eyes. It tells me that he wishes he could tell me, but can't. He doesn't want me to keep asking him. "Okay," I say. "What can you tell me?"

I see the relieved look on his face. "As I was going to say earlier before we got off track, I am your angel. I keep watch over you after you die. I was assigned to you the second I was born and trained vigorously for this moment. I was assigned to be your angel because I am around your age. We will always want the same things, talking, silence, naps, and things like that because of our age."

"Oh. That makes sense. Throughout your life teenagers want different things. When they're growing a lot they want naps, when they have long days they want silence, when they have boring days they want to talk." I say.

"Yes. So you see what I mean," he says looking happy. "Now follow me."

I follow him through the large door. We're in a little room now.

"I'm sorry, but I have to do this," he says looking guilty.

"Do what?" I ask, right as he reaches up and puts a blindfold on me. "What are you doing?" I manage to say in my surprise.

"I'm sorry, but they just don't want you to see a lot of stuff yet," he says. I can hear the pain in his voice. He doesn't want to do this to me. Even though I've just met him, he's known me all his life. I'm like a life-long friend to him.

"Okay," I say as I settle down. He leads me down what I guess is a long hall. Eventually, I hear him open a door and he leads me inside it. He closes the door. We walk a little bit more and go through two more doors. Eventually we stop.

"We're here," he says as he takes of the blindfold.

I open my eyes. "It's beautiful!" I say. The room exactly represents me: a music player because of my love for music, a bunk bed because of my high placement at harvest, flowers in a vase on the nightstand next to the bed. I also see I door that I'm guessing leads to a restroom.

"I hoped you would like it," he says. "Since I'm your angel, I had to pick out the furniture."

"Thank you. You did an amazing job," I say, reassuring him.

"That's great to hear," he says. "I'd better get going. My room's right nextdoor if you need anything."

That's great to hear because so far, he's the only one I know and the only one I would feel comfortable talking to about Hunger Games nightmares.

"Wait," I say. "I never got you name."

"It's Robert," he says. "Well, goodnight."

"Goodnight," I respond. He starts to leave, but instead, I run up and hug him. He seems surprised at first, but then happy to return the hug. I really needed this hug. I just died.

I finally let go and so does he. He looks sad as he leaves.

I turn around to get into bed. I don't care if I'm still wearing the clothes from the arena, I'm too tired to change into pajamas.

Once I get in bed, I look around. I notice something I didn't notice before. On the nightstand, there's a picture. I'm on the top bunk so I can't really see it. I climb down to see what the picture is.

When I get a good look at the picture, I realize that it's of me and Katniss. It's from the first night of our alliance. We were up the the tree, sharing her sleeping bag. I'm cuddling up to her because I trust her, and she doesn't seem to mind. Yes, it was the first night, but it was also our last. It's a sad picture, but it's also the most meaningful picture anyone could ever give me.

I feel a tear run down my cheek. I wipe it away and climb back up to the top bunk. I get comfortable and wonder what information Robert will tell me tomorrow that he couldn't tell me today.

As I drift off into sleep, I see a lot of pictures. My family. My friends. My home. Katniss. They're all gone now. Well, I guess that when they die, they'll come here too. The last image to flash before my eyes is Robert, my beautiful angel.


	2. The First Meeting

I wake up to a little song playing in my room.

_Deep in the meadow, under the willow_

_A bed of grass, a soft green pillow_

_Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes_

_And when again they open, the sun will rise._

I recognize the song. Katniss sang it to me. I sit up.

I look down at the music player to see Robert standing right next to it. He turns it off.

"Good morning sleepy head," he says laughing.

"What time is it?" I ask sleepily.

"Ten o'clock, and time for you to get up," he tells me. I lay back down. "Come on! We let you sleep in a little bit!"

"Well sorry that I just died," I tell him. He puts his hands up as if to say that I won the fight, but then he still spends five minutes trying to get me up.

When he finally gets me up, he apologizes because he has to put back on the blindfold. I don't want to stress him, so I don't make a big deal about it. We walk through two rooms, down a hall, and enter a room. He takes the blindfold off and I look around.

We're in a huge room with a long table and a lot of chairs. Two of the chairs are taken, but one big one is still open.

"Where are we?" I ask Robert.

"You'll find out soon. Just come on," he tells me.

He leads me to the big chair that you can see all the other seats if you sit in it.

"Sit down," he says.

"I get the big chair?" I ask. "Shouldn't that be for someone more important?"

"As of right now, you are the most important person in the room," he tells me. I only just now realize how nice he is. He kinda reminds me of my first boyfriend who, ever since we broke up, I've still kinda liked.

I sit down and Robert stands behind me. I look at the people around me. Finally, the short fat one speaks, "Hello Rue. It's a pleasure to have you here."

I look around and my eyes lock on Robert's. He knows what I'm thinking, _Great! I'm glad you're so happy about me dieing! _Robert just shakes his head as he looks at the man.

"My name is Marco," says the short fat man. He has brown eyes and brown hair. I can tell that it's just a wig. His face is fairly chubby. I nod to him to suggest that I'm saying hello. Really I just don't want to talk to him after he said how happy he was I left the world that has my family, friends, home...

My thoughts are interrupted by a voice. "Hello Rue. My name is America," A woman begins. She has long beautiful blonde hair and red eyes. The look on her face says that she thinks she's better than everyone else, but she seems to respect me. She's also very tall. "I'm glad that, since you had to die some time or another, you could come on this occasion. If you hadn't died when you did-"

I interrupt her, "Yeah yeah. I know. Then the people that win couldn't win and they wouldn't change the world forever. I get it."

All of their eyes shift above me, they're looking at Robert. Oh yeah. He wasn't supposed to tell me.

"Yes that is true," says America. "We'll tell you more later. This meeting was supposed to be about that. Now you may go back to your room." I decide I like America. She walks over and gives a nasty look to Robert. That wasn't for telling me. That had years of glares built into one. She had to have worked on that over time. _Never mind, I don't like America_.

America and Marco leave and I'm left with Robert. I stand up and walk to Robert and hug him. He hugs me back and I realize how much I love his hugs. "I feel horrible," I say.

"I know," he says. "They're all just stupid. Come on." I let go of him and we walk to the door, he opens it.

"What about the blindfold?" I ask.

"You don't have to wear it anymore, but you aren't allowed to ask me any questions until we get back to your room," he says.

"Really? Yay! I hated wearing that stupid blindfold!" I say, laughing and smiling. When I wore that blindfold, I felt so trapped. I felt like they weren't telling me anything.

He laughs. "Okay. Come on. Let's go," he says.

I walk through the door and gasp at what I see.


	3. I Learn

I'm about to ask Robert about what I see, but he gives me a look that reminds me that I have to wait until we're in my room.

As I walk down the hallway, I am very observant. I see doors. A _lot _of doors. They all have signs on them. Some signs say old age, Hunger Games, diseases, starvation, or rebellion. They all have a time span or number (in the Hunger Games cases) under them. I walk down the hallway and wonder how endless it is. It definitely didn't feel like this long of a walk when I had the blindfold on.

We finally reach the door with a sign that says _Hunger Games 74._ We walk in and we are in a room with several other doors in it. These doors have signs. The signs have names, the letter _D, _and two numbers. Robert leads me to the one that says _Rue/12 D11._

We walk through it and we are in a smaller room. There is a fireplace, a rug, and two sofas. There are also four doors, each with a sign. One says _Kitchen_. One says _Lobby._ Another says _Angel_ and under it is Robert's signature. The other says _Tribute_, but there's no signature.

Robert looks at me and says, "Well, ask your questions."

"You said I had to wait until we were in my room. This isn't my room," I tell him.

"This _is _your room. You have you bedroom, the one from last night, and the main room," he explains.

"So, we sorta live in the same house?" I ask him.

"Yes. It's weird I know. Usually the person and the angel are the same gender, but around the time you and I were born, there weren't any girls. So, I had to be your angel," he says.

"That's weird, but it's okay. You seem cool," I say. "So, in the hall. What were all of those doors?" I ask.

"This is where everyone lives. Those signs said how the people in that compartment died. So, yours said Hunger Games 74, because you died in the 74th Hunger Games," he says.

"Oh! That makes sense. Then what were those doors in the room we were just in?" I ask.

"They were saying who lived in which house. Your sign said Rue/12 D11 because your name is Rue, you were 12 when you died, and you were from District 11," he says.

"Oh, okay. And all the angels live with their person?" I ask.

"Yes. Well, it's not really _their person_. Yes, it is the person they watch, but it's more like the angels are owned by the people," he tells me.

"That sounds sad," I say.

"No. It's not sad at all. It's a pleasure to be assigned a human to watch. The angels that aren't assigned a human have to take care of the babies that died at birth," he tells me with a smile on his face.

"You know what?" I ask him. "I'm glad you're my angel."

His face lightens up. "I'm glad to be your angel," he says. I notice that he's blushing.

"So, am I allowed to ask you any questions?" I ask him.

"Ask me all the questions you want and I'll tell you if I can answer them or not," he says.

"Okay. So who wins the Hunger Games?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Will I be able to talk to other dead people?"

"Yes, but you aren't dead. This is like a new life once people pass the first one."

"Pass?" I ask.

"Yes pass. If you're a bad person then you die you don't come to heaven," he says.

"Oh," I say. I've heard of the other place before, but I was never sure if it was true. "So do you stay the age you died as forever?"

"No. You can switch what age you are. Most people decide to set their age as it was before and keep moving like a normal human's age would. Some people want to go back and relive an age. Some people want to stay the same age because they loved it or because they want to be that age to get revenge," he says.

"How would someone get revenge with their age?" I ask.

"Say president Snow died. All the people that died as 12-year-olds in the Hunger Games might turn back to 12 to show how sad they are that they couldn't live their life. Although they would have to make a long journey to the place for bad people," Robert says.

"So, Snow goes to the other place?" I ask.

"Yes. Where else would the person who decided to kill 23 children every year go?" Robert asks.

"I don't know," I tell him.

"I mean really, 23 children for 73 years. Plus 22 for this year. That's 1,701 innocent children!" he says.

"22 for this year! So two people win! Did they make a rule change? If they did, it's probably about the same district. So, it's either Cato and Clove, or Katniss and Peeta!" I scream.

"Danget!" says Robert with a smile on his face. "I guess I _accidentally _let you know too much. Just don't tell America and Marco. Okay?" he asks.

I laugh. "Okay," I say. "So, if all those signs out there tell me who dies from the 74th Hunger Games-"

He interrupts me, "Don't even ask for permission. Just go look."

"Thank you Robert!" I exclaim.

I run out the door that says _Lobby_ and into the room with 23 doors. I see a sign that says _Hallway_, _Rue, Thresh, Glimmer, _and many more. I finally find the signs that say_ Cato_ and _Clove_, but I still have to make sure. I check all the doors and see that none of them say _Katniss _or _Peeta_.

Thankyou! Thankyou! Thankyou! They survive the Hunger Games! They save the world! But the Capitol won't be happy about it! Oh well! They still live!

But then I remember the sign that said _Hunger Games 75_. 75 is a mulitiple of 25. So that will be the Quarter Quell. They're going to hurt Katniss and Peeta.


	4. Beautiful

This realization hits me. Hard. I can feel a horrible pain in my chest. I double over and **my body** racks with sobs. The tears sting my eyes. I'm crying so loud that I don't even hear Robert come up behind me.

"Are you okay? What's wrong? Aren't you happy?" he asks me. I look up at him and he sees the look in my eyes. He knows that I connected it all up. "Come on. The other people don't know yet."

He leads me back into our living room. I don't even try to make it to the couch. I just sit down on the **floor** and cry. "What d-do they d-do to P-Peeta and K-Katniss?" I manage to get out between sobs. My vision is obscurred by tears.

"What do you mean? They survive," he hugs me as he says this. Since I'm on the ground this position is kind of awkward, but still very comforting. I like that he's hugging me. It's weird, I'd rather him hug me right now that my mother.

"I'm not stupid!" I scream. "I saw the door! It said 'Hunger Games 75'! That's the Quarter Quell! The Capitol will be upset that they both lived, won't they? They'll do something bad for the Quarter Quell like they always do!"

Robert looks at me with those sweet, loving eyes. He accepts that I know something bad happens to them. He looks so disappointed. He looks like he didn't want me to know, and like he wanted me to stay a sweet little girl.

I remember that he's the same age as me, and I realize what horrible, heartbreaking stuff he must know. Even though he knows the things, he still wants the best for me. He still wants for me to think the thoughts of the three-year-old I used to be, when I didn't know how horrible our world was.

"Robert, why are you so sweet?" I ask him. I didn't mean for that to come out of my mouth. It just happened like that.

He looks surprised, "What do you mean?"

Even thought I didn't mean to ask the question, I now find myself wondering why. "I mean, you're always so nice to me. Even when I'm horrible and screaming and crying, you're still here."

"I'm your angel. Of course I'm here."

"I know that but...oh well. Never mind," I say.

I wipe away the tears and I can see clearly now and I'm looking closely at him. I realized from the first moment that I met him that he was beautiful, but now I see more. I don't _just _see his brown hair and blue eyes. I see the face of this amazing guy who is beautiful inside and out. I look down.

I realize that I like him as more than a friend. I _like _like him, but I have a feeling that angels aren't supposed to end up with humans. I wish that were supposed to.

They only partnered us up because he was the only option, so they clearly didn't want us exposed to the opposite gender. They didn't want him in here with me right now. They wanted it to be a girl.

I look up and realize that he is still hugging me. Our faces are right next to each other's and he's just so beautiful. It would be so easy to stretch my neck out that little distance between us and kiss him, but he doesn't think of me that way. He's been taught that the angels and humans don't end up together. Most humans that die die as adults. So, when their spouses die, they probably just go back with each other. Hunger Games tributes are a special circumstance. I would love to kiss him, but I don't lean in.

Let me rephrase what I just said. I don't have to, because he beats me to it.


	5. Rules Aren't Meant to be Broken

It is a very brief **kiss**. When we pull away, I look straight into his eyes and say, "Wow. Isn't that...not supposed to happen?"

"What do you mean?" he asks me.

"You and me weren't supposed to kiss. They wanted my angel to be a **girl**, not a boy. So, not you," I explain.

"Oh yeah," he says. "Well it's their fault for partnering us. If they had done something else, like get a girl a little bit older than you to be your angel, then I would say it wasn't their fault. But they didn't do that, so it is their fault."

He's blaming them. He's turning it all around on them, just for me. I'm the one to lean in this time. This kiss is longer. I love the way it feels. It's just so...right. I like him, and from what he just did, I'm guessing that he likes me too.

We pull away and I realize that we're still sitting on the ground. "We should get up," I say.

"Yeah," he says. "Let's go." We get up and move to the sofa.

I look at him closely and say, "Be honest. Are they okay with us liking each other?"

"Of course they are."

"Are they okay with us being together?"

"Um, well you see," he starts. I look at him with a serious look. It's saying, _tell me the truth._ "No. They don't want us to be together."

"Well then we can't be," I say. Robert's jaw drops. "I'm sorry, but I don't want America to hate me, or to hate you even more than she already does."

"I don't care if she hates me or not. I've learned to live with it. Please. I want you so badly! You can't just give up!" he says.

I sigh. "Why don't they want us to be together?"

"Most people die as adults and don't need a new love. Most angels find loves along the way. You died young, and I'm the same age as you," he tells me. "So I hadn't found a love yet."

"What do you mean you _hadn't _found a love yet?" I ask him.

"I mean, I think I found my love," he says as he stares straight into my eyes. He leans in for another kiss, but I turn around so that I'm not facing him. "What was that for?" he asks me.

"We aren't supposed to be together. I'm sorry. I really like you too, but I just can't do it. I can't break the rules," I say.

"Please. You have to break rules at some time or another! Trust me. I've broken so many rules and well, look at me. I'm happy, except for your rejection. I'm still having a blast and only a couple of people hate me, but everyone has a couple of people that hate him," he says.

I lean in for another kiss, just to shut him up. I'm about to pull away, but I don't. I keep this kiss going forever, and finally realize that it's no longer a peck, but my mouth is moving. I don't want to pull away. This is so amazing, and even though it's breaking the rules, I love it so much.

I finally convince myself to pull away, only to go right back in again. After this process, me trying to stop but doing it again, goes on several more times, I finally stop for good. I realized that I don't care if it's breaking the rules.

When we stop he looks into my eyes. "What was that?" he asks.

"What do you mean?" I ask him.

"You were trying not to kiss me before, but now you can't stop. What changed?" he asks.

"Everything," I say. "Okay. I'll break the rules. So are we like, official now?"

"If you wanna be. It's not like I go around telling everyone. I'll tell two or three people and let it slowly spread," he tells me.

"Okay. Can I talk to anyone besides angels? Like, are there any dead people I can talk to?" I ask. It's been kind of weird not seeing anyone of my kind.

"Sure," he says. "Do you want to talk to another tribute?"

"Yeah! That would be great!" I say.

"Okay then. Let's go do our jobs. I slowly spread word and you talk with other people," he says.

I laugh. "Okay." We stand up and walk to the door. Robert is about to open it when I kiss him again. This kiss is different. This kiss means something. This kiss, I love. "Let's go," I say.

We walk through the doorway, only to see America, standing there with her arms crossed. She has an angry look on her face. "Do you have an explanation?" She says. While it's not much, it's all she has to say to let us know that she heard our whole conversation.


	6. The Discovery

The look on America's face is terrifying me. I let out a little gasp and Robert puts his hand on my shoulder. When I feel his hand, I remember that he's there. It will all be okay.

I'm about to speak, but Robert beats me to it. "I'm not sure what you mean," he says.

"Oh, I think you know exactly what I mean Robert," she says. She has that glare from the meeting back on her face. She's really mad.

"I sure don't know what you mean America. What are you trying to say?" I ask, trying to sound casual and confused at the same time. It's really hard considering the fact that I'm freaking out and know exactly what she's saying.

"You two know the rules and you are breaking them! What is going on in your heads?" America yells at us.

"We don't care about the rules!" Robert is shouting back. "Why do you want to stop us? Can't we just be happy?"

"Yes. You can be happy," America says. Robert and I both smile. "Just not under these conditions." Our smiles vanish.

"That's not fair!" I say. I'm surprised the words came out of my mouth considering the shock I'm in.

"It is completely fair!" America's yelling back at me. "We've had this rule forever. We aren't going to break the rule just for a couple of kids."

"As far as I'm concerned I'm not a kid anymore!" I scream. "I was in the Hunger Games! I lost my innocence the second they pulled my name from the reaping ball!"

America is astonished. She didn't expect that one. "The only time this has ever happened was with one human and one angel. They snuck around and secretly got married. We found out and told them that angels and humans couldn't be together. The angel decided to give up his wings and they had to put their son up for adoption to be together."

Robert gulps. I turn around and look at him. He has a pained expression on his face. Is he afraid to give up his wings, or is he afraid of hurting me by not giving up his wings.

"Are you okay?" I ask him. He slowly nods his head and I see his eyes watering. He's lying. Something's definitely wrong. I turn back around to America and ask her, "What's wrong with him?"

She doesn't answer my exact question, but she still lets me figure it out. She says, "Because the angel wasn't a full angel, he never got wings. He looks like a regular human, but we know better."

I turn around and look at Robert. I try to look in his eyes to find out what's wrong. I don't get any hints so I look at all of him. I gulp as I realize. H_e doesn't have wings._

"It's you," I say. Upon hearing those words, Robert walks back into our living room. I can't see him, but I hear his bedroom door open and close.

I turn back to America and she's smiling. "You finally got it sweetie," she says.

"You're evil," I say. "You tore him away from his family. You made his dad give up being an angel. You hate him just because of his parents. You are truly evil."

America is giving me her signature glare now. "You have no right to talk to me that way!" America screams.

"You have no right to treat people like dirt! Why do you think its okay to go around ruining everybody's life? You're as bad as the capitol!" I scream right back at her.

Her glare is worse now. "If you want us to make any exceptions, you had better not scream at me any more!"

"What exceptions? You said there were no exceptions," I say to her in a, _you're so stupid_ kind of voice.

"The only exception is having the angel give up being an angel," she says. I can hear it in her voice that she's trying not to scream at me again.

"Wow! That's a really great exception! It _SO _makes people happy," I say in a sarcastic tone.

"Well it's the only exception we can make! You should be grateful that we even have that one!" I guess she's given up on keeping her cool.

"So you're going to make Robbie give up his wings?" I ask. Once I say it I think, _Wow. Did I just say Robbie?_

America frowns at the name. I guess it reminds her of the fact that we like each other. "If you two want to be together, then yes. But if you two break up he can still be an angel," she tells me. She has her calm voice back and the glare has gone away.

"Alright," I say. "I'll talk to him." America smiles and walks away and I turn around and walk into the living room. I sit in a chair for a moment. I'm trying to decide how to convince Robbie that we need to break up.


	7. A Decision

Robbie walks into the room. He takes my hand and moves me over to the sofa. He starts kissing me and I forget the fact that we can't be together. When I finally remember, I break away.

"No," I say. "I'm not going to let you give up being an angel."

"That's ridiculous," he says. "You can't stop me."

"Oh yes I can." I say. His eyebrows go up. He's challenging me. "I can break up with you."

"You wouldn't."

"I would," I say. Robbie's mouth is wide open. "I can't let you give up being an angel. They already treated you and your family horribly. I can't let them make _you _give up being an angel too."

"I don't care if I'm an angel or not. Just as long as I'm with you, I'm perfectly happy," he says. He's gotten off the sofa and is now on the floor. He's on his knees and he's begging me now.

"But you were already treated so horribly. I can't let them treat you any worse," I say. "I'm sorry Robbie. I just want you to be happy."

"If you want me to be happy then you let me give up being an angel! My dad was brave and I'm brave too! I would rather be with you then be an angel!"

"We're only 12. How do we know if we'll even stay together?" I ask him.

"Trust me! If I love you so much that I'm willing to give up being an angel, then my love will last forever!" _Wow! Did he just say love?_

I hate to play this card, but I have to. "How do you know that I'll love you forever?" I ask.

"You love me so much that you were willing to let me go. You wanted me to be happy even though you would have to give me up. You love me. Love doesn't go away," he says.

I get off the sofa and sit on the floor next to him. He turns and faces me. It kills me to see the pain in his eyes. I kiss him. This kiss lasts 30 whole seconds.

When we stop the kiss, I look into his eyes and ask, "Are you sure?"

"Completely," he says. He leans in and kisses me on my cheek. "I'm completely sure."

"What will happen when you give up your halo?" I ask.

"I can be with you, and I can finally go meet my real mom and dad," he says. The smile on his face is from ear to ear and I can't help thinking, _wow. He's so beautiful when he smiles. _

"What bad things will happen?" I ask him.

"Well, of course, I won't be an angel anymore. And you'll be assigned a new angel." The thought of having a new angel is horrible.

"And it'll be a girl right?" I ask him. I can't deal with another beautiful boy living in the same house as me.

"Yeah. It'll be a girl. They always have backups for the angels. They're the second choice of angels to look after the human. They have the backups incase something bad happens to their first choice," he tells me.

I'm still worried. "Who's my backup angel?" I ask.

"I forgot her name, but I remember that when I met her she was very nice. She's about a day older than you." he assures me.

"Where are you going to move once you're not an angel anymore?" I ask him.

"I'll move in with my parents," he says.

"Which parents? You were adopted," I remind him.

"I was put up for adoption. I was never adopted because people knew that when I grew up, I wouldn't have wings," he tells me. "Angels want their children to have the biggest, most beautiful wings."

"Oh. That's sad," I say. The sound of never having parents to take care of you is horrible.

"No. It was okay. I stayed in the adoption home and the people there took care of me. And now that I'll have to go somewhere, it makes choosing who's house a lot easier," he says.

"When will you give up your halo?" I ask.

"Any time I choose to. We would have to go down to the courthouse and tell the jury that I'm giving up being an angel. They would spend ten minutes discussing it with each other. When they finally worked everything out, they'll decide when to take my halo and display it in a box."

"Why would they display it?" I ask.

"They would think I'm being brave, whereas America would think I'm being disrespectful," he explains.

"I still don't understand," I say.

"Some people think it's cool and some people think it's stupid. When they display it, the people that think it's cool can admire it." he says. "The people that think it's stupid just have to suck it up and deal with it."

I laugh. "Okay. When will we go to the courthouse?" I ask.

"When do you want to go?" he asks me.

"Whenever you want," I tell him as I lean in for another kiss.

When we stop the kiss, I remain a kissing distance away from him and he says, "Let's go right now."


	8. The Courthouse

"Right now?" I ask. "Don't you just want some time to chill and have fun with your last day to be an angel?"

"I've already done that. I spent my whole day with you," he says. I'm pretty sure I'm blushing and I hope that Robbie doesn't notice.

"Are you sure you want to go right now?" I ask.

"Completely sure," he says. We get up and walk to the door. We're both hesitant to walk through. I guess it's because of the shock of seeing America the last time we left the living room.

We walk through the lobby and into the long hallway. We turn right and walk a long way. The whole time Robbie and I are holding hands.

Eventually, we get a big door that says, _Courthouse_. Robbie and I stop walking. Robbie is smiling, but I'm not. I still feel bad that he's giving up his halo, just for me.

We let go of each other, Robbie opens the door, and I walk through. He follows me. When we're both inside, we hold each other's hands again and commence walking.

I look at the room we're in. It looks just like what courtrooms looked like back home: the large table for the judge, the spots next to it for the defendants, the places for the jurors, and the area for the audience. The only weird thing about it is the fact that no one is there.

Robbie looks just as confused as I feel. "What?" he asks. It's a rhetorical question. He doesn't want me to answer. He's just talking to himself.

"Robbie, what's going on here?" I ask.

"I don't know. Usually the jury is here all the time. Maybe they're just taking a break or something," he says.

"That doesn't make sense," I say. "If they're supposed to be here all the time, then they would have backups or something."

Robbie considers this. "That's true. Never, not once in my life, have I ever heard of or seen an incident where the jury wasn't here. And if they had to go somewhere, they would get a replacement jury, or they would make sure the judge was here."

"So what do we do now?" I ask.

"I guess we sit and wait for someone to come back," Robbie says. We walk over to the benches in the audience and sit down. Robbie tries to kiss me, but I stop him.

"We're only twelve years old," I say.

"Well that didn't stop you before," Robbie says.

"I know, but can we only break one rule at a time please?" I ask. "Normally twelve-year-olds don't kiss anyway, so let's just hold hands and talk or something. Okay?"

Robbie looks disappointed, but agrees. We hold hands and talk about things. It's mainly about random things, like favorite colors, animals, or numbers, but then something pops into my head.

"Robbie, will it hurt?" I ask.

He laughs. "Whoa. First of all, did you just call me Robbie? And second of all, will what hurt?" he asks.

"Will giving up being an angel hurt?" I ask.

"No. It'll be okay. I'll feel weird for a little bit, but then I'll get used to it," he says.

"How will it feel weird?" I ask.

"When the halo is removed, my head will feel lighter," he explains.

"Oh," I say. "And yes, I did call you Robbie, just like I did two times earlier."

"Really? When?" he asks.

"Once when I was yelling at America. The other time was when you walked into the room and started kissing me," I say.

"Oh! I remember now!" he says. He smiles really big, and then says, "I would give you a nickname, but you already have such a beautiful name, I wouldn't want to ruin it."

"That's impossible," I say. "Rue is such an ugly name. I hate it so much."

"Don't say that. It's beautiful. Everything about you is beautiful," he says.

Just then, we hear a door open and close. We look up and see a judge, a jury, and a woman with a typewriter walk into the room. The woman isn't an angel. The judge sits in his seat, the jury sits in theirs, and the woman sits next to the judge.

"Why are you here?" asks the judge.

Robbie looks at me before saying, "I would like to stop being an angel." Gasps come from all around the room.

"Why do you want this?" the judge asks.

"I am in love with a human," says Robbie. I bite my lip. I'm terrified of this judge. He's overweight, but tall. He has gray hair that looks like toilet paper and he doesn't look very kind or understanding.

"Awwwwwwww." I look over to the jury to see that more than have of the people are women. _Yay! They might accept it!_

The woman with the typewriter has stopped typing. She's looking very closely at Robbie. She has brown hair and blue eyes.

"Let me make sure my information is correct. What is your name?" asks the judge.

"Robert. My last name is unknown," says Robert.

Suddenly the woman gasps and stands up. We all turn and look to her. _What is she doing,_ I wonder.

She answers my question by saying, "You're my son!"


	9. Mother and Son

"You're my mom?" Robbie asks.

"If your name is Robert, you don't know your last name, and you don't have wings, then yes. I'm your mother," she says back.

You would think they would run to each other and hug, but they don't. I can see that the woman wants to, but Robbie doesn't even know her. I see the astonished look on Robbie's face. He's probably seen her millions of times before, but never guessed that she was his mom.

"You're my mom?" Robbie asks again.

"I'm your mom," she tells him.

Robbie just can't accept it. "You're my mom?" he asks again. I squeeze his hand to remind him that we still had to finish the business we were attending to, him giving up being an angel. He turns his head and looks at me. "Sorry," he mumbles.

"It's okay," I say. "Now come on. We can talk to your mom later."

Robbie looks at the judge and asks, "So, when can I stop being an angel?"

The judge looks down at him. He turns his head to the jury. "Jury, when can he stop being an angel?"

One of the jurors speaks up, "When would he like for it to happen, sir?" The judge turns his head to Robbie and nods, signaling him to answer.

"As soon as possible, your honor," he says. The judge turns back to the jury and nods.

"We could do it later today or tomorrow, if you like," says the same juror.

Robbie doesn't even wait for the judge to signal. He just says "Let's do it later today. When and where should I go?"

The judge doesn't seem to mind that he didn't wait for the command. "Come back here at 11:30," he says.

"Why so late?" I ask.

"It's already very late," says the judge. He gestures to a clock on the wall. It's 10:00. _Oh yeah! I went to that meeting this morning! It feels like more than that long. I guess that we've been up to so much lately that we haven't even noticed what time it was._

"Oh wow. Sorry I didn't notice." I say. The judge nods like it was no big deal. "I'm sorry your honor, but I never got your name. I'm new here and I don't know many names."

"My name is Chine," he says. He reaches out his hand.

I make my way over to him and shake his hand back. "I'm Rue," I say.

"I know," he says. _Wow. Does everyone around here know who I am? "_You may go now."

Robbie and I both stand up and walk out the door. I see the woman talk to the judge. The judge nods and the woman joins us.

"Hello, I'm Amelia," she says. She seems like a wonderful woman.

"Hello Amelia. I'm Rue," I say back. She smiles and shakes my hand. She turns and now she's facing Robbie.

"Robert," she says.

"Mom," he says back. It seems like they're both too scared to trust what they see.

"Robert, please don't be mad. We had to give you up for adoption. They said that even if we didn't stay together that we still had to give you up, but we still loved you. We loved you so much!" Amelia says.

She won't stop talking, so finally Robbie just hugs her. She stops talking and immediately hugs him back.

They pull away for a second. Robbie looks in Amelia's eyes and says, "It's okay, Mom." They start to hug again.

They stay like this for a while, and I don't disturb them. If I hadn't known my mom my whole life, this is what I would do.

When they stop hugging, Amelia looks at me for a second. Then she says, "Oh come on!" She pulls me in and we all have a group hug.

We stop hugging and I laugh. I see that Amelia and Robbie and both smiling too. Even though they both have blue eyes, there's something different about Robbie's eyes. His eyes shine very brightly, I guess that It's because he's an angel. I wonder if that will change when he gives up being an angel. I hope not. His eyes are so beautiful.

"Mom, could you do me a favor?" asks Robbie.

"I would love to help you, honey. What do you need?" she asks.

"Can I meet Dad?" he asks.

"Sure, let's go," she says. Ameliaa starts walking and we follow her. She's leading us to Robbie's father. I know that she likes me, but what if he doesn't? I can only hope for the best from the man who gave up being an angel.


	10. Father and Son

We follow Amelia down the long hall. We reach a door that says _old age_ and a number that I don't care to look at. We walk through and enter a smaller room. I'm terrified to meet Robbie's dad. Will he think Robbie is being smart and brave, or stupid and weak? Will he think that it's good that Robbie's following in his footsteps, or will he want him to keep his life as an angel? Is he still happy that he gave up being an angel, or does he think it's a stupid thing to do? All of these will affect if he likes me or not. And his opinion of me will affect Robbie's opinion. What if he doesn't like me, so Robbie decides he wants to stay an angel? As we walk through the door that says _Keyna Votto _I realize I'm crossing my fingers. His dad has to like me.

We walk into a room that looks like mine and Robbie's living room. The furniture is different. There is a couch and a loveseat. The chairs look more sophisticated and the lamps are black, ours are white. Some of the doors are the same and some are different. One says _Kitchen, _and the one we just walked through says _Lobby. _There are the doors for the bedrooms too, but with different names on the doors. One says _Humans,_ but is signed _Keyna Votto_ and _Amelia Votto._ The other door has a blank sign. Amelia walks to the door with the signatures and knocks on it.

"What?" comes a voice from the room. I was trying to see if the person is irritated or happy to hear that Amelia is back, but they said it so fast, I couldn't.

"There's someone here to see you," says Amelia with a smile on her face.

"I'm coming!" says the voice. I can tell now, the person is happy. The door opens and a man comes out. He has dark brown hair and green eyes. His eyes are so beautiful. _Yes! Robbie's eyes won't change! _ He looks at Robbie and doesn't say anything. He sees the halo and might be able to see the beautiful eyes. He sees the hair that matches his and the eyes that are a mix of his and Amelia's, but he doesn't put it together.

"Wow," says Robbie.

The man just looks at Robbie. Then he says, "Hello, I'm Keyna Votto." He extends his arm to Robbie and they shake hands.

"I'm Robert," Robbie says. Pain flashes across Keyna's eyes. "What's wrong?" Robbie asks.

"Our son was named Robert. We had to put him up for adoption," says Keyna.

"Do you still miss me- I mean him?" asks Robbie.

"So much," says Keyna. "He had a bit of dark brown hair growing, and his eyes were like Amelia's, but with the brightness of an angel."

"That sounds like me," says Robbie. He's trying to hint at his dad. I guess he doesn't want to just give it away. He wants it to be a shocker. I glance over at Amelia. She's smiling from ear to ear. Keyna may not know it, but this is a family reunion.

"Yeah," says Keyna. "He looked like a baby version of you." Pain flashes across his eyes again.

"Since he was a human and an angel," starts Robbie. "Did he have wings?"

"No. Just a halo, like you," says Keyna, still not putting it together. "Why are you like that anyways?"

"My dad was an angel and my mom was a human. I was put up for adoption," Robbie says. He couldn't be giving bigger clues.

"There was another couple like that? I thought we were the only one," says Keyna. "And they had a baby? I didn't think any other couples would go that far without me hearing about it."

"You heard about everything. You're the only couple like that," says Robbie.

Keyna is still confused. "If we're the only couple, then how do you have parents like us."

"They're more like you than you think," says Robbie. Keyna is getting closer, but just can't put the final pieces together.

"How are we alike?" asks Keyna.

"Well I didn't know this until today, but my dad's name, was Keyna too. And my mom's name was Amelia. And their last name was Votto," says Robbie.

"Those are our names," says Keyna. "You have brown hair. You have blue eyes. You have a halo. You have no wings. You had parents like us. You were adopted." As he says everything, his voice builds up, his smile grows, his eyes widen, and he looks deeper into Robbie's eyes. "You're my son," he says.

"Hey dad," says Robbie. He's smiling so big I think his cheek bones will fall off. They hug each other just like Amelia and Robbie did. They grab Amelia and bring her into the hug. They stay like this for a while. When they finally stop, Amelia and Robbie turn and look at me while Keyna's gaze keeps switching from Amelia to Robbie.

"So why are we meeting each other now?" asks Keyna.

"Robbie's in love, Keyna," says Amelia.

"So you came to meet us to give the good news? Is the angel rich? Is she really pretty?"

"Um," I say.

"Is she tall? Is she blond? Does she have hazel eyes?" he keeps asking.

"Dad?" starts Robbie.

"Is she smart? Is she important? Is she well known?" he asks.

"Keyna," says Amelia.

"What?" he finally stops.

"Hi," I say.

"Who are you?" asks Keyna.

"I'm Rue," I say.

"Nice to meet you, Rue." He turns back to Robbie. "Is she funny? Is she nice? Does she have brown eyes?"

I turn around and run out the door. I slam the door and sit next to it on the floor. I start to cry. This is horrible. He saw me standing there. He saw the awkward looks on our faces. But he still thought Robbie was in love with an angel. The man, who gave up being an angel for a human, was convinced his son was in love with an angel. I hear them talking now.

"Why is she so upset?" asks Keyna.

"Because," starts Robbie "she's the one I'm in love with."

"What?" I hear Keyna say.


	11. The Argument

"Dad, I love her," says Robbie.

"You love that human?" asks Keyna. Hearing those words makes my crying more aggressive. That human, how can he think of me as that human?

"Yes, Keyna, I love that human," says Robbie. Robbie is still sticking up for me. He also called his dad Keyna, like he couldn't believe this man was his father.

"Why do you love a human? That's ridiculous!" says Keyna. I hear a shriek, it sounds like a girl so I'm guessing it's Amelia. Oh yeah, this must be hurting her too. She's a human. Having the angel that fell in love with her talk so horribly about falling in love with a human must be horrible. "I didn't mean it like that," says Keyna.

"I don't want to hear it. You've made Rue run away, and now I am too. You're a horrible hypocrite!" says Amelia.

"Please! Don't go!" says Keyna.

"I might come back. You'll be lucky if I do," says Amelia. I hear her walking and the door opens. She walks through and closes the door. She sits down and hugs me. "It's alright," she says.

"No it's not," I say. "Keyna is going to convince Robbie that this is a stupid idea to give up being an angel and he'll decide that he doesn't like me anymore," I manage to get out between sobs.

"That's not true. Did you hear Robbie? He was saying 'I love her' and 'I love that human.' So, you're right. He doesn't like you. He loves you. And second of all, he was saying that he still loves you. He's not going to let Keyna convince him that he doesn't love you no matter what," she tells me.

"I can't believe you!" we hear Robbie shouting. "You married a human! You love a human! And now you're telling me that _I_ shouldn't love a human! Well I _do_ love her! And I'm giving up being an angel for her!"

"Oh no you're not!" screams Keyna. I let out a sound that is like a shriek, a cry, and a gasp all mixed together. I hear Robbie gasp and I guess he heard me. I hear him start walking. "And where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going to check on my girlfriend, Keyna," Robbie spits back.

"She's not you're girlfriend!" yells Keyna.

"Yes she is! Or would you rather she becomes my wife? Would you rather I marry to early and actually make a mistake or wait and marry her when it's time?" Robbie yells.

"Ah!" I scream.

"Shhhhhh," I hear Amelia. She starts lightly rubbing my back to calm me down.

"No!" I say. "It's all my fault they're fighting and I ruined their reunion!"

"It's not your fault," says Amelia. "Please just calm down." I hear the door open and someone steps through it. The door closes and the person moves in front of me. I'm pretty sure it's Robbie, but I'm looking down and I can't see who it is.

"Rue?" I hear. I look up and see that it is Robbie.

"What?" I ask.

"He could never change my mind. I promise!" he says.

"You see? Nothing's wrong," says Amelia.

"Are you sure? You don't think I'm disgusting or that it's stupid to like me?" I ask.

"Of course I don't," says Robbie. "Didn't you hear me offer to marry you too early?"

"Yeah," I say. "I thought you were fibbing."

"Of course I wasn't," says Robbie. "I would rather wait until we were a normal age, but that's only because I would want you to have time to change your mind or get used to your new home. But I would never lie about something like that." I stand up and hug him.

"Thank you," I say.

"No problem," he says.

"It's all my fault that your happy moment was ruined," I say.

"No it's not. It's Keyna's fault. If he hadn't been such a stuck up snob we would still be happy," he says. I turn to Amelia.

"I'm sorry you and your husband had a fight," I tell her.

"It's okay. I'll go back to him soon. I just need time to cool off," she assures me. I turn back to Robbie.

"So, who are you going to live with now? Are you still going to live with your parents or will you find a new place?" I ask.

"I'll live with mom and Keyna. It will be hard, but I'll make it work," he says.

I slightly laugh. "I just won't go over to your house," I say.

He laughs too, "Yeah, that's probably a good idea."

"You kids are so adorable," says Amelia.

"Thanks," I say sarcastically. I feel like Amelia could be my own mom. She's so nice and helpful, she just feels very loving.

"Raaaah!" we hear Keyna scream.

"Gosh," I say. "He's angry."

"He's really angry," says Robbie.

"He'll be alright. He just needs some time to calm down," says Amelia.

"Are you sure?" I ask. Amelia nods her head and I turn to Robbie. "Are you sure you'll be okay living with him?"

"I'll be fine. I'll have mom to balance out his rudeness," says Robbie. He turns to Amelia. "Mom, did he used to be like this?"

"He used to think it was perfectly fine to have angels and humans love each other, but America talked to him and explained how bad it was. He still thought it was okay for us to be together, he just thought it was wrong for other people," she explains to us.

"Then why did you let us meet him?" I ask.

"I thought he would be alright with it. He always thinks that if it's family doing something bad that it's in the wrong," she says.

"Oh," I say. "That makes sense."

Amelia looks down to her watch. "We'd better get going," she says.

"Why?" Robbie and I both ask at the same time.

"Well," she says. "It's 11:30"


	12. The Ceremony

"It's 11:30 already?" I ask.

"What?" asks Robbie.

"We'd better get going if you don't want to miss this thing. It's already the time that we should be there. We'd better walk fast," says Amelia.

"Okay, let's go," says Robbie. We all turn and walk in the direction of the courthouse. No one talks the whole way there. The only sounds I hear are the clacking of Amelia's high heels.

When we get to the door, we all pause before entering. The first one to speak is Robbie.

"Let's go," he says. We all enter the room. I check the big clock on the wall and see that it's 11:33, so we made good time. The judge is sitting in his large chair, and the jurors are all in their same spots. We walk up to the same place we were last time. "I'm here to give up being an angel."

"We know," says a teary eyed juror. Earlier when Robbie said he was in love, a couple of the jurors acted like they were touched. I'm guessing this woman was one of the people. She has black hair and dark brown eyes. I see that she doesn't have a halo, wings, or the sparkle in her eyes. Now I understand that she is a human. She must have liked an angel or something like that, and that's why it's affecting her so strongly.

"Are you sure you would like this?" asks the judge.

"I'm completely sure," says Robbie.

"Is the girl you love sure?" asks the judge.

"I'm…I don't know," I say. I'm being honest. I don't want Robbie to give up being an angel.

"What do you mean?" asks Robbie.

"You can't give up being an angel," I say.

"And why can't I?" asks Robbie.

"I won't let you, that's why," I tell him.

"Why won't you let me?" he asks.

"Keyna turned bitter," I say. "I can't let you do that. And I've noticed, not many people have given up being an angel," I say.

"So?" asks Robbie.

"So there must be some downside to being a human. Or there must be some upside to being an angel. I want you to be happy, and have the best life possible," I say.

"My best life would be with you," he says. "You can't do this. I love you."

"I love you too," I say. "I love you so much that I'm letting you go."

"If you loved me you wouldn't be letting me go," he says. "Please, believe me. You can't do this. You just can't."

"I can and I am," I say. Wow. I sounded really mean. It just now hits me how much I've changed when I came up to heaven. I used to be a little girl, but I've changed. Maybe it's the Hunger Games' fault, maybe it just came to me when I died. I'll try to be the person who I once was again, but that will be hard.

"Are you sure?" I hear Amelia ask me. "After everything Robert and Keyna went through, you still want to do this?"

"I'm sorry they had to fight, but now at least Robbie can live up to Keyna's expectations. I hope Keyna and Robbie will forgive each other for the vicious things they said, but I can't let this happen. This will be best for Robbie, I promise. He may not understand it now, but he will when he meets a beautiful angel and falls in love with her," I say.

"I won't fall in love with an angel. I'll always like you. I'll never get over you! You can't do this!" Robbie's screaming now. It pains me to hear Robbie sound like this. Robbie, the guy that stood up to America and his own father for me, is breaking down. Robbie, the guy I'm in love with, is breaking down. Robbie, the angel, is breaking down. I intend to make sure he stays an angel.

"You will find someone else," I promise.

"No I won't! I love you!" he yells. His words from earlier sting in the back of my mind. _Love doesn't go away_. If love doesn't go away, and if he really does love me, then he won't find someone else. He may settle for someone else, but he won't love them as he loves me.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do it," I say. I'm looking at my feet, at the floor, at my heart sinking down. I turn and walk out of the room.

The door closes with a loud thud, and I expect to hear it open with a person coming out of it, but I don't. Instead I hear the pained yells of Robbie Votto, the angel I love, but can never be with.

* * *

**Thanks to **jenna2468 **for her wonderful review that gave me the encouragement to write this chapter**

**Thanks to **Zelda12343 **for constantly reviewing my chapters**

**Thanks to **booksandmusic97 **for constantly updating my current obsession story :) and for reviewing**

**Thanks to **the hunger games is my life **for their nice review**

**Thanks to **HarleyMae-96 **for their helpful review**

**Thanks to **Hungergames-Chlerek-lover **for their funny review & for going to the other website & reading my stories on there**

**Thanks to **Finnick4ever4** for their nice review**

**And Thanks to **everyone who selected to be told when there's a new chaper, favorited it, or read it**. :) R&R**


	13. All In A Helpful Dream

I walk down the hall towards my room. It seems to take forever to get there, but when I finally arrive I run inside. I walk through the lobby and into the living room. Did I really just do that? Did I really just turn down Robbie? I guess I should start calling him Robert again, seeing as we're not a couple.

I open the door to room and stop walking. I heard something. Someone just entered the living room. I turn around to see Robbie, I mean Robert, standing there. His eyes are red as if he's been crying. His hands are balled up in fists. I gasp, not because I think he'll try to punch me or something, but because it hurts to see him like this. I love him, and I did this to him. I made him cry. I made him furious, no, I did worse. I made him heartbroken.

"Why?" he asks.

"I want you to be happy," I say.

"I was happy," he says.

"I wanted you to be an angel," I say.

"I was fine with giving that up," he says.

"I wanted your dad to like you," I say.

"He did like me. He was just upset with me," he tells me. If someone was watching and listening to this conversation, their head would be turning back and forth like they were watching a tennis game.

"I didn't want him to be mad at you. Now when you go to live with him he won't be mad at you," I explain.

"I can't live with him now," he says.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"They took me away from my parents because they were humans and I was an angel," he says. "But now I'm still an angel, and they're still humans."

"Oh," I say. "But you can still visit them though, right?" I ask.

"I can visit them around once a month," he says. My jaw drops. "Yeah, I know. Now I don't get the girl I love, _or _my parents.

"Listen, Robert, I'm sorry," I say. He does a good job at keeping himself together, but I saw the pain in his eyes when I said his name. I used his real name, not the nickname I used to call him.

"You can't do this," he says. It seems like he's been saying that a lot lately.

"I don't want to," I say. I turn my head away from him and look at the ground. "But I have to."

"No you don't," he says. "Let me do this. Let me be with you. Let me be happy," he says.

"I'm sorry," I say. "I'm- I'm- I'm- I'm doing this because I- I- I- I love you." His jaw drops as I say it. "You're gorgeous. Any angel would be lucky to be with you. If you walk out there right now and ask 'So who wants to go out with me?' a thousand girls will automatically line up for you. When you find the one you're right for, you can be with her, but you can't be with me. I can't be with you. We can't be together. I'm sorry. I'll always love you." I'm crying now. I look back up and into his eyes. They are watering and it looks like he's having a hard time keeping the tears from running down his cheeks.

_Poor Robbie,_ I think, giving up on switching to his real name. _It's okay. He'll get over me soon. And as soon as he does, he'll have a new girlfriend, one way better than me. She'll be prettier, and nicer, and funnier, and all the things Keyna asked about. And more importantly, she'll love Robbie. She'll love him more than I would ever be able to._

"Okay," he says. "But I promise, I won't ever get over you. So be prepared. Be ready for us to be together. I'll find a way for us to be together, and you have to either except that, or except the first way. You promise?" I nod. "Okay. Good night." He leans down and kisses me on the cheek, then turns around and walks into his room. _I love you, _I think. I turn around and walk into my room. I climb up the ladder, get on the bed, and get under the covers.

I hear Robbie's door open and he walks into the living room. "Mom?" he asks. "I need your help. Can you meet me at the library to research something? Thanks. Bye." He's probably going to research a loophole that would allow us to be together, or something like that. The living room door opens and Robbie walks out it, then it closes.

I look over at a clock in my room and see that it's 12:34 am. _I wish Robbie and I could be together. I would accept any way for it to happen, just as long as Robbie is still an angel. _When I was still alive I would always wish on a special time, like 11:11 or 12:34.

I turn over in my bed and slowly drift off into dream land.

People are lifting me off my bed and carrying me. They take me to a weird hospital room and lay me down on a cot. They give me laughing gas and do a procedure that turns me into an angel. They only gave me the halo and the shining eyes so that I can be like Robbie. I feel remarkable. I stand up and walk through a door. Robbie is standing there.

"Come on," he says. "And remember your promise." I nod and he leads me back to my room. I don't pay attention to the rooms we walk through. He helps me onto the bottom bunk and the clock says 1:47. I get comfortable and fall into what I guess is a deeper sleep because my dream stops.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. My alarm clock goes off. I'm on the bottom bunk, so I'm already next to the clock and turn it off easily. That's weird. I thought I fell asleep in the top bunk.

I get up and walk through the door in my room to the bathroom. I haven't been in here yet. I get to the sink and wash my face. I dry it off with a towel and look in the mirror. At first I don't notice it, but then my jaw drops. I see the thing above my head. That wasn't a dream last night. I'm an angel. I can be with Robbie.

* * *

**Thanks to:  
**Hungergames-Clerek-lover **and  
**KateTheFanFictionist **for reviewing the 12th chapter**

**Because of what you guys said, this chapter was dedicated to you guys! :) You rock!  
R&R**


	14. My New Self

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" I scream.

Robbie storms into the room. "What?" he asks. I turn and look at him. My eyes say _I think you know you idiot_. "Oh yeah."

"What. Did. You. Do?" I ask.

"You said that you would accept either me giving up being an angel or the other option I found," he says.

"Yes, but I didn't tell you I would choose this one," I say.

"At 12:34 you made a wish," he tells me.

"So?" I ask. "And how'd you know about that?"

"I wish Robbie and I could be together. I would accept any way for it to happen, just as long as Robbie is still an angel," he quotes me exactly.

"How'd you know that I wished for that?" I ask.

"Well, when you're wishing, who do you expect hears your wishes?" he asks me.

"I don't know," I admit. "I just thought it would go…somewhere."

"Well, it comes here. When you're alive it goes to your guardian angel. When you're dead it goes to your guard angel. I know that sounds weird, but they are different people," he explains.

"Okay, so you heard my wish?" I ask.

"Yes," he says.

"So you went to all this trouble to let us be together?" I ask.

"Yeah," he says. He's not saying much, but he doesn't need to.

"I love you Robbie," I say.

"I love you too," he replies. We lean in and kiss each other. "So, did you give up on not kissing?"

"Nope, well, sort of. We'll just kiss less," I explain.

Robbie sighs, "Okay."

"So what do we do now?" I ask.

"We have to go talk to America," he tells me.

"No!" I say. "Not again!"

"We have to. Some things will be different now," he says.

"Fine," I say. We walk back into my room and Robbie leaves. I pick out a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt. I walk into the living room, but Robbie isn't there. I knock on his door, but he doesn't open it. So I go into the kitchen. He's there.

There's a stove, an oven, cabinets, and a sink. There are also some counters and a table with four chairs around it. I realize I haven't eaten the whole time that I've been here and walk to the table.

"Are you making food?" I ask Robbie.

"Yes," he says. "I'm making scrambled eggs and bacon."

"Oh, please hurry," I say. "I'm hungry."

"I'll go as fast as I can," he says.

"Thank you," I say. "Why are there four chairs if there are only two of us?" I ask.

"In case someone comes over or one of them breaks," he explains.

"Oh, that makes sense," I say. "So who would be coming over?" I ask.

"Your parents, my parents, new friends, old friends, anyone really," he tells me.

"Oh, okay," I say. We don't talk until he finishes cooking. He brings the bacon and eggs to the table and sits down. I get up to get plates. I have to look in several cabinets before I find the one with the plates. I finally find them and bring them back to the table. Robbie has already gotten forks. I sit down.

"So," I begin. "Can I _please_ have some bacon?"

He laughs. "Sure," he says. He passes the plate to me. I take four pieces and give the plate back to him. "Wow, you're hungry."

"I haven't eaten since I got here. Of course I'm hungry," I say.

"Well then here," he says as he puts some eggs on my plate. I look up at him and my eyes say, _give me more now! _He puts more on my plate.

"Thank you," I say. He puts food on his plate.

He looks up at me, "Why haven't you started?" he asks.

"Well, are we supposed to pray or something?" I ask. "I mean, we are in heaven."

"It's okay, you don't have to," he says.

"Okay." I go for the bacon first.

When I'm almost done with my food there's a knock at the door.

"Who could that be?" I ask. Robbie and I both get up to open the door. When we open it, we see the person standing there.

"So how are you?" She asks. "Did it hurt?"

"No, I'm okay," I say.

"May I come in? It's time for us to talk," she says.

"Sure come on in," says Robbie.

We lead her to the living room. Robbie and I sit down on the loveseat and she sits down in a chair.

I ask, "So, why are you here America?"

* * *

**Sorry that I couldn't post this yesterday. I'm in a play now and I have to stay after school until 6 three days a week. I was really tired and hungry so I ate and went straight to bed. Thanks again for waiting. I hope you liked it.**


	15. Check the Page

"I am here to talk to you two about your new um…situation," she says.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Robbie was guarding a human, but you are no longer a human. We are here to discuss what we'll do about that," she explains.

"Oh," I say. "Will I have to work in a nursery or something?" I know that angels that look after humans are trained from birth, so I don't suggest me looking after someone.

"Yes, you will," she says. "But you are still a human. You're an angel human."

"So what will happen?" Robbie asks.

"You will still look after her. She will still have to learn the things that dead humans are supposed to learn. She will still go through the main routines that she was supposed to. But she will have to work in the nursery and she will have slightly different DNA," she says. Wow. That's a lot of stuff.

"Okay," I start. "So Robbie and I can still live here?"

"Yes, you may. But when you go to your door, you may see something slightly different," she says.

"Um, okay," I say. Robbie gives her a skeptical look, and there's that glare again. I wonder if it hurts her eyes to look at someone with such a mean expression.

"Well, I'm leaving now," she says. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye, America," Robbie and I say. She leaves the kitchen and we kiss.

"I wonder what's different about my door," I say.

"Let's go check it out."

"Okay, let's go." We stand up and walk through the door. We walk over to my door and examine it. At first I don't see it, but then it hits me. "Robbie, what's that?"

"What's what?" he asks. He's looking at the structure of the door. I see the change of the sign.

"Why does it say _Rue (almost) V_?" I ask.

"Where?"

"On my name." He looks down and sees it. Right there. Staring at us. Killing my heart. What's the V for? Why is it there? I know what's happening. It's on the tip of my tongue. This is slowing killing me inside. "What does V stand for?"

"One second," he says. He pulls out his phone and dials a number. "Mom? Can you look in that book again? Thanks. Go to the page titled _After. _What does it say? One second, let me put you on speaker."

His mom's voice comes from the other side of the call. "Patient will feel floaty." I nod. "Patient may have different personality." I slightly nod. "Patient will be required to… Oh my gosh." I shake my head. The other things were correct. What's wrong with this one?

"Mom, can you hear me?" Robbie asks.

"Why didn't we check this page Robbie?"

"We did."

"Apparently we were half asleep."

"Why? What does it say? Tell me mom!"

"I can't say it. I can't say it. Honey, oh no. I can't say it."

"I need to know what it says. There's a letter V on Rue's name sign and we need to know what it stands for," he says.

"Oh no, Honey. Does it say anything else?" she asks.

"It says almost. What does that mean?" he asks back.

"Honey, I'm so sorry," she tells him. "I'm sorry, Robert. I'm sorry, Rue. I hope you guys are happy."

"Mom, what does it say?" he yells. He's very frustrated and so am I. Why won't she just tell us? What could be so horrible that she couldn't tell us? Then it hits me.

"No," I say.

"What?" asks Robbie. I take his phone and go into my room. I see a little box sitting on my nightstand. I open it and see what is inside. I sigh. I ask Amelia if my theory is correct and she confirms it. I wish she hadn't. I go back to the living room and hand the phone to Robbie.

"I know what it is. You can hang up," I say, trying to keep back the tears. This cannot happen. I can't accept this.

"Okay, bye, Mom." He hangs up. "What is it?"

I shake my head. "Robbie, what's your last name?"

"Votto," he says. "Why?"

"Spell it backwards and yell every other letter," I command.

"Um, okay. O t T o V. Why?" he asks.

"Say the last letter again," I tell him.

"Okay… V. What's happening?" he asks again.

"What is your mom's maiden name?" I ask.

"Robeyt. That's where they got my name from. Why?" he asks for just about the hundredth time.

"What's her last name now?" I ask.

"Her last name is Votto, but why?" he asks, yet again.

"Why did her last name change?" I ask.

"She married Keyna. What's your point?" asks Robbie.

"What's her last initial?"

"V?" he answers, unsurely.

"Why can't you put this together? Why are you making me say it?" I ask.

"I'm sorry. I just don't understand what is going on," he says, so innocently.

"Robbie, my last initial will be V soon," I say.

"What? Why?" he asks. Really? I see where he gets this from. It took Keyna forever to figure out that Robbie was his son, and now it's taking Robbie forever to figure this out.

"Robbie, they're making us get married," I say, pulling out the little engagement ring I found in my room.


	16. Too young Too loving

"What?" yells Robbie. His jaw drops to the floor. I crouch down and my body racks with sobs. I'm too young. Robbie's too young. Why are they making us do this? "What do you mean?"

"I mean, they're forcing us into marriage," I say. "Why would they do that?"

"I guess that since you gave up being a full human, they think we have to love each other. Maybe now you couldn't be with a regular angel or a regular human, so we have to get…" he can't finish what he was saying, and I can understand why.

I look down at the ring and take his hand. I pull him down to the floor where I am, hand him the ring, and stand back up. I position him on one knee.

"What are you doing?" he asks.

"The question is, why aren't you doing it," I explain.

"Doing what?" he asks. I sigh.

"We have to get married. You're on one knee. You have a ring in your hand. What do you think you're supposed to do?" I ask him. Wow. America and the other angels really are like the capitol. I've heard that they've forced marriages and…other things before. Now they're forcing this on us.

"I can't do it," he says. I see a tear falling from his eye. I think this is the first time I've ever seen him cry.

"You have to," I say. "It's okay. We may be very young, but we still love each other. As you said, love doesn't go away."

"Are you sure?" he asks. "You could have a procedure done to undo this. We could avoid this…somehow…"

"I'm sure. I love you. You love me. We're meant for each other. We can do this. We can be happy," I say.

"Okay…" he says. "Rue, will you marry me?"

"Yes," I say, with a huge smile on my face. I know that we shouldn't be getting married, but I still love him. And I'm actually kind of excited for this. He puts the ring on my finger and I lean down and kiss him. Suddenly there's a knock at the door. "I'll get it."

He grabs my hand. "No. We'll get it," he says. I nod and he stands up. We walk to the front door and see Amelia, Keyna, and America.

"Congratulations!" says America. Keyna and America put on fake smiles, but when they see my real smile, they stop and look confused. Amelia's eyes are red and I can see that she was crying. Keyna just looks shocked at what's happened and I can see him staring at my halo.

"Thanks," Robbie and I say. We both hug Amelia and nod at Keyna. I still don't feel like hugging him. Not after what he did.

"Are you excited?" asks America.

"Super excited!" I say. Keyna and Amelia look surprised, but Robbie seems to understand. "When will we get married?"

"Well, that depends," says America. "Do you want it to be soon and in the courthouse, or in a while with a big wedding?" Amelia raises her eyebrows on the latter of the two, so I go with that.

"I'd prefer a big wedding in a while," I say. Amelia smiles when I say it because she signaled that she wanted that one. America smiles.

"I've always wanted to plan a wedding," she says. "Maybe Amelia and I could work together." Amelia's genuine smile becomes fake again.

"That'd be great, America!" she says. America nods and turns back to us.

"So to answer your question, you can get married as soon as we finish planning the wedding. We have many people that can marry you that will be free because there aren't many weddings, aside from angel weddings, done around here," she explains.

"That would be wonderful," I exclaim.

I'm excited, but worried. I'm anxious, but hesitant. I'm optimistic, but expecting the worst. Who am I right now? At home I was the sweet little girl. No I'm the young flirty girl who is getting married at the age of 12. Wouldn't my mom be so proud?

Amelia looks at me and nods. "Of your courage, not this," she says. How did she know I was thinking that? That's really creepy.

"Well, I'm going to go now," says America, confusedly. She turns around and leaves and we all sigh. I walk to the loveseat and burst into tears. Robbie comes quickly and hugs me, trying to make me feel better. The bad thing is, his touch just proved reality. Robbie is here. He loves me. I love him. We are getting married. I am only twelve.

"Wow," says Keyna, sarcastically. I stand up and walk over to him.

"Shut up Keyna! You think you're so cool! You think we're stupid because this is happening? Well you're pretty stupid too! You always hurt your wife's feelings! You hurt you son's feelings multiple times! And now you've hurt your soon-to-be daughter in law's feelings multiple times! I used to think you were awesome! I thought it was cool that you gave up being an angel! But then I met you," I yell. His jaw drops with the last statement. "You're so rude and I just want you to shut up!" I walk to my room and slam the door. I open it to a crack and peek out to see what's happening.

"Wow," he says. "She's upset." Robbie looks up with a pained expression.

"She's right," he says, matter-of-factly. He stands up and walks into his room.

"Why doesn't Robbie like me?" Keyna asks Amelia.

"Your first impression wasn't very good," she says. "You've continued to be a jerk to him and his girlfriend, or, fiancé."

"I don't try to, it's just how I am," he says. I feel bad for him for one millisecond. But remember, one millisecond isn't very long.

"I know," says Amelia. "You should change." Keyna's jaw drops and she starts walking towards my door. I run to my bed and climb the ladder as easily as I hopped through the trees in the Games. I hide under my covers and Amelia walks in.

"I know you're in here," she says. "Do you want to talk?"

I hesitate, but then I have to. "Yes," I say. I climb down the ladder and sit next to her on the bottom bunk.

"If you're going to be mad at someone, be mad at me," she says.

"Why?" I ask.

"I read the page, just not carefully enough. Please don't be mad at Robbie," she explains.

"I'm not mad at anyone," I say. "It was going to happen sooner or later. I love him and he loves me. I'll be alright. You should go check on Robbie."

"Are you sure?" she asks. I nod and she stands up. "Okay. Bye." I nod again and get under the covers. I dream of mine and Robbie's perfect wedding.


	17. White and Yellow

I wake up to the sound of someone talking. It's a girl, but I can't hear anyone else, so maybe she's on the phone.

"How soon can we go? We want the first free appointment you have. Tomorrow? Great! I'll call back and check out the details. Just leave that spot open," she says. It's America. I get out of bed and wash my face. I join America in the living room.

"How did you get inside?" I ask.

"I work for the government. I can do anything," she tells me. I nod and she looks in a book sitting in the chair next to her. She starts dialing a number and puts the phone by her ear again. "Hello? I need a place for a wedding. We don't know when the wedding will be, so just remember that famous people need to get married and, if possible, try to have spots open. Goodbye."

"Robbie and I aren't famous," I say. She raises her eyebrows.

"Yes you are. You are the twelve-year-old that died in the second most important Hunger Games ever. Robbie is the only living child of an angel and a human. You are also the first one they have done this surgery on," she explains.

"So will a lot of people want to come to our wedding?" I ask. She nods and I sigh.

"Don't you want there to be a lot of people?" she asks.

I shake my head. "I want to know the people that are there and I want them to come because they think I'm a good person. Not because I'm a famous person marrying another famous person," I tell her. America nods and I realize that she's been really nice so far. Maybe she's only mean around Robbie. I guess I'll find out when he wakes up.

"I scheduled an appointment at this amazing wedding gown place. They have so many gowns that you have to get help from the people to know which one is the best for you. The appointment is tomorrow and I need to know some things," she says. I nod and she starts again. "What color gown do you want?"

"White," I say. "Maybe some light yellow accents. Flowers or little swirls would be nice." She nods and goes on.

"What color shoes?" she asks me.

"If there are accents on the dress I want light yellow. If there aren't accents I want a very light blue," I say. She nods, writes everything down, and stands up.

"Well, I should be going," she says. I nod and walk her to the door of the living room. "Bye."

"Goodbye," I say. She walks into the lobby and I close the door, only to have it knocked on again.

"One more thing," she says. "You will have nursery duty today after lunch. It starts at one thirty."

"Thanks," I say. She nods and leaves again, closing the door behind her. I go to the kitchen and get some sausage out of the fridge. I only ate breakfast yesterday. The breakfast was. Late and we were supposed to eat lunch around the time everyone came over. The conversation lasted until dinner time, but I skipped it and went to bed early. I put it on the stove and hear Robbie come from his room.

"Hello, Beautiful," he says, as he enters the kitchen. He comes behind me and wraps his arms around my waist. He starts kissing me and I happily oblige. We pull away and he lets go.

"Do you want sausage?" I ask. He nods and I get out two plates. He puts some bread into the toaster and I start to put the meat on one of the plates. He gets orange juice and starts pouring it into two cups. I put the remaining meat on the other plate. I carry the plates to the table as he carries the cups. I walk back and get forks as he puts the toast on a plate. I put the forks next to our plates and he puts a piece of toast on each of our plates. We sit down and eat. After a moment of silence, I ask, "Are you excited?"

"Yes," he says. "I love you. Sure, we should wait until we're older, but I still love you. I'll always love you and I'm ready to marry you right now."

"Me too," I say. "Sorry that mine doesn't sound as pretty, but you're the one that's good with words." He laughs and we resume eating.

When we're done, we clean up and walk to the living room.

"America came by today," I say. He raises his eyebrows. "She was scheduling appointments and she had to ask me about what wedding dress I wanted to wear."

"What did you say?" he asks me.

"I said white with light yellow accents. The accents should be flowers or little swirls," I explain. He nods and I lean over and kiss him. "I'm your fiancée."

"What about it?" he asks.

"I can't believe. I'm engaged to Robbie Votto, the human angel," I say. He laughs.

"So? My fiancée is from the Hunger Games. The second most important Hunger Games, if I might add," he says. "I think I got the better trade." I laugh and shake my head.

I really can't believe it. I'm engaged to him! We're getting married! I'm so excited! Sure, I'd like to wait until we're older, but if we have to get married right now, then we will.

I just remembered my birthday is coming up soon. That means that Robbie's is too. I can't wait for us to be older. It will make us seem less weird for getting married.

* * *

**Sorry that this took so long. I've been really busy lately, but I've still been trying to update. I'll update soon. I PROMISE!**


	18. Tears and Jaw Drops

"Ow!" I scream. "No, Kara! No hitting!" A toddler angel just hit me with a ball. I had Robbie show me where the nursery was as soon as we finished lunch. So far, the toddlers hate me. "I think toddlers have a grudge against me."

"It's okay," my new friend Ricky says. She's just fourteen years old and I'm so jealous of her. She's fourteen! I wouldn't look as stupid if I was fourteen! "What's wrong?"

"You know who I am, right?" I ask.

"Sure I do. You're Rue Kuppa, the girl from the Hunger Games," she says. I nod.

"Don't you notice something weird about me?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "No. Well, something's weird, but I can't put my finger on it," she says.

"Is it the fact that I have a halo and that I'm working in an angel nursery?" I ask, getting her closer to the weird thing.

"Oh!" she says. "Why are you an angel? How are you an angel?"

"I got the procedure done so that I could be with this amazing guy, but now I have to do something I wasn't planning on," I explain.

"Who's the guy?" she asks.

"Robbie Votto," I tell her. Her jaw drops of jealousy

"He is so hot," she says and I smile. "So what do you have to do now?"

"We have to get married," I say. Her jaw drops of shear anger.

"What?" she barks.

"They're making us get married," I say, practically breaking down right there. She leans forward and hugs me.

"It's okay," she says. "It's alright. We'll do something about this." She's such a good friend. I'm so glad I had nursery duty.

"There's nothing to do," I say. "We have to get married, no matter what."

"Says who?" she asks.

"Says a huge rulebook they didn't check before turning me into an angel, says America, we have to get married," I say. The tears come now.

"Do not cry," she commands. "Do not cry. Don't you dare cry. It will all be okay. I can stop this."

"How could you stop this?" I ask.

"My mom," she says.

"Who's your mom?" I ask.

"America," she says. My jaw drops of surprise.

"Really?" I ask.

"Really," she confirms, causing me to smile.

"So what are you going to do?" I ask.

"I'll talk to my mom about it," she says. "I'll try my best, but there's no guarantee." I nod and we have to spring into action to stop Kara from practically breaking a boy's thumb. When we're done she asks, "Do you want to come with me to ask my mom?"

"I don't know," I say. "Do you think I should?"

"Definitely," she says. I smile.

"I'm glad that you're my friend," I say.

"Me too," she says. We hug and hand out crackers to the kids.

After the whole day I'm still confident that the kids hate me. One kid spit in my hair and another threw up in my shoe. Yes, they hate me.

"Ready to go?" she asks when our shift ends.

"Sure," I say. We walk to her house, but I'm so scared I don't pay attention to where we're walking. When we get there we're greeted by America.

"Oh, hello, Rue," she says. I nod at her and Ricky won't even make eye contact. "Is something wrong, Ricky?"

"Yes, mother. You're actually making Rue get married?" she snaps at America.

"She got the procedure-" America begins.

"She's twelve," Ricky counteracts. "Twelve-year-olds shouldn't get married." America is obviously surprised that Ricky snapped at her.

"It's a rule," America says.

"It's inhuman," Ricky barks back. "I can't believe you, Mother."

"At least I'm giving them good wedding. I could just make them get married in a courthouse right now!" America yells.

Ricky's eyes widen. "You wouldn't," she says. America whispers into a walkie talkie. At first Ricky and I are very confused, but we understand very soon. We know what she said when a large man comes into the room and picks me up. I scream so loud that they could probably hear me back home. He carries me down the long hall and I find myself in the courthouse. Robbie's there too.

I swear under my breath. It's not Ricky's fault. It's America's. The guy carries me to the judge's stand and a guy pushes Robbie towards us. He looks at me and raises his eyebrows. That look meant _what's happening? _He understands that we're getting married, he wants to know why.

I mouth the word _America, _and he nods. I close my eyes to keep the tears from coming. The man puts me down next to Robbie. I hug him; at least I don't have to marry some horrible man like the guard.

The judge speaks, "Let's just skip to the important part, shall we?" Robbie and I just want this to be over with, so we nod and the judge goes on. "Rue Kuppa, do you take Robbie Votto to be your husband?"

It kills me, but I say it anyway, "I do."

"Robbie Votto, do you take Rue Kuppa to be your wife?" the judge asks.

He closes his eyes and says, "I do."

"Rings," the judge says. The guards hand us rings and we put them on each other's hand. "You may now kiss the bride," the judge announces. Robbie and I lean forward and kiss each other. Sure, I'm happy he's the one I had to marry, but I'm not happy that I'm married. I'm going to kill America.

The thought occurs at the perfect time, because right as I think that, America and Ricky walk in. They interrupt our kiss and I hear Ricky squeal. America chuckles heartlessly and we break away.

"I hate you!" Ricky yells at America. She runs towards us. "I'm so sorry, Rue! It's all my fault! I don't blame you if you never forgive me!" I stop her by hugging her, she's surprised.

"It's not your fault," I say. She shakes her head, but stays silent. I grab Robbie's hand and we walk to the door. As we pass America, I slap her in the face. Her cry of pain satisfies me so much.

* * *

**OMG! THEY GOT MARRIED! WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT? COME BACK AND FIND OUT!**

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**I apologize for have an epic fail on the wedding part. I've barely been to any weddings and I'm really tired, so I didn't search it. I'm sorry, but at least you got the message.**


	19. Backtalk

We get to our lobby and see that my name isn't on the door that leads to our living room.

"What happened?" I ask.

"I don't know," says Robbie. "Let's ask someone."

We see an angel walk by and I stop her.

"Where did my name go?" I ask.

"To your new home," she says.

"What?" I ask her. "What new home?"

"When you get married you get a new home," she explains. My jaw drops.

"No," I say. "No. No. No. No. No!"

"Well it was your choice to get married," she says. I give her a pained look.

"Actually, it wasn't," I say. Her jaw drops and before she can say anything we turn around and walk into the hall. We sit against the wall.

"Rue! Robert!" we hear. It's Ricky. She's running down the hall towards us. When she gets here I stand up and hug her. "I'm so sorry. If I hadn't talked to my mom then this wouldn't have happened. I'm so sorry!"

"It's not your fault, Ricky," I assure her.

"Yes it is. I'm so sorry! I hate America and myself so much!" she yells. So she's doing what Robbie does. Her mom is now America instead of Mom.

"Ricky, listen to me!" I command, while shaking her shoulders. She looks me in the eyes and I see that she's crying. "It's not your fault." She nods and hugs me again.

"I hate America so much," she says. "Can I at least hate her?"

I chuckle. "Sure," I say. She turns to Robbie.

"I'm so sorry, Robert!" she says.

"It's no problem," he says. We hear footsteps and look down the hall. It's Amelia.

"Are you two okay? What happened? Someone just told me to hurry down here. They didn't even say what was wrong," she says. Neither Robbie nor I can say the words, so I make a small gesture and she understands. All I do is hold up my left hand, and she drops to the floor crying.

"Mom?" Robbie asks with urgency. She's crying harder than either of us did, and she didn't even have to get married.

"Amelia?" I ask. She looks up and tries to wipe away her tears. "Where's Keyna?"

"He's on his way. The person told me to come before they told him. I immediately ran here as they went to tell him. He'll be here soon," she says. Right as she says that, we hear more footsteps.

"Mr. Votto?" Ricky asks. We hear a voice, but it's not Keyna's. The voice makes Ricky grind her teeth. The voice makes Robbie stand up with fists. The voice makes Amelia go back to sobbing. The voice makes me run to Robbie. "Why did you come here, America?"

"Why so formal, Ricky?" she asks as I finally see her face. She looks at me and smiles. "Congratulations." That one word makes me run at her. I don't know what I'm going to do; I just have to do something. When I reach her I punch her in the eye.

"I really hope that left a mark," I hiss. She gives me her signature glare and I just smile back.

"You got the procedure done. It's not my fault," she barks.

"I'm sure this isn't your fault either," a voice comes from behind America. It's Keyna. Suddenly America's arm is flung forward. Keyna punched the back of her arm. She turns around and reaches out to slap him in the face, but he ducks.

"You have no right to hit a woman!" she yells.

"Then I guess I didn't break any rules," he says.

"Ooh!" Ricky yells. I laugh and Robbie smiles. Amelia just stops crying.

"You cannot talk to me like that!" she screams.

"Then why was I able to?" he asks.

Again, Ricky '_ooh'_s. And this time, Amelia actually laughs.

"Stop it!" she screeches. "You have no authority over me!"

"Isn't it obvious by now? I don't give a flying fiddodle about authority," he counteracts. You know, I could get used to Keyna. America turns to Ricky.

"Come with me," America commands.

"No," Ricky refuses.

"Excuse me?" America asks.

"I said, no," Ricky snaps. America is obviously surprised that Ricky is disobeying her.

"I'm your mother," she says.

"You _were _my mother. I don't know you anymore," Ricky says.

"So what are you going to do? Never talk to me again? Get me to disown you?" America says sarcastically with an evil grin.

"Yes," she returns. America didn't expect this. She actually looks a little hurt, but I really couldn't care less.

"Which one?" America inquires.

"The last one," Ricky says. Wow. That even surprised me. "I'll get someone to adopt me, someone that's not the rudest angel in heaven." America's jaw drops. She turns around and runs away. Then something unexpected happens.

Keyna and Robbie run and hug each other. My eyes tear up as I go to help Amelia get up. Keyna and Robbie are still hugging, so she hugs me first. When the guys finish Amelia hugs Robbie and Keyna just stands next to them. I go and hug Ricky, who doesn't want to let go.

"I'm so sorry," I whisper to her. She shakes her head.

"No, I'm sorry," she says. Then we both stand there and cry for what seems like forever.

We are finally interrupted by Robbie touching my shoulder. I let go of Ricky and hug him. This hug has no tears. This hug, reminds me that I'm lucky to have a guy like him.

Keyna speaks up, "Rue, I'm sorry for the way I treated you."

"It's okay," I say. "Many things can be forgiven. That was one of them." This is obviously suggesting that America did an unforgivable thing. I turn to Ricky.

"What are you going to do now?" I ask her.

"Can I bunk with you tonight?" she asks.

"Sure, Ricky," I say. She smiles. "If only we new where our home is."

"I'll go find out," says Keyna. He walks away and I hug Ricky again. Keyna comes back very quickly. "I know where it is. Follow me." He leads us down the hallway. I'm staring at the ground the whole time, so I think I'll need help the next time I come here. We all hug goodbye and Keyna and Amelia leave us.

"Ready?" I ask.

"Ready," Robbie says. We enter and see that the house is different than our old one. It doesn't have a lobby, it just goes straight to the living room. Our house is much bigger and fancier than any of the houses we've seen so far. "Why is it so big?"

"I don't know," I say, asking myself the question too.

"You guys are famous," Ricky explains. I nod and Ricky explains how we're famous to Robbie. We get all the mattresses, pillows, cushions, blankets, and things like that in the house. We cover the living room floor so that it's like a room made of cushions. We lie down, turn on the TV, and fall asleep. I'm lying down between my best friend and my husband.

* * *

**Sorry that this took really long. I was going to post it last night, but my computer was being stupid and wouldn't let me.**

**R&R. Please review. No one has been reviewing lately and I want to know what y'all think. **


	20. Apologize

_It's too late to apologize. It's too late._

_It's too late to apologize. It's too late._

_-Apologize (OneRepublic)_

* * *

"Rue, wake up," whispers Ricky.

"What?" I ask quietly.

"Let's play a prank on him," she whispers. I chuckle and get up. "What should we do?"

"Be right back," I mumble. I tiptoe out of the room and find a rubber snake. I show it to Ricky and she nods. We set it on his face and adjust it so that it'll stare him in the eyes when he wakes up. We walk to either side of him and I hold up three fingers. I count down to one and we both scream.

"WAH!" yells Robbie when he awakens. He sees the snake and throws it to the other side of the room and into the hall that leads to the bathroom. Ricky and I break down laughing and roll on the ground. The look on his face was hilarious! "Why'd you scream?" This of course sets us off into another fit of laughter.

When we finally get it all out of our system we scream, "Gottcha!"

"Ha ha, very funny," says Robbie, sarcastically. We smile really big. "I'm not saying good morning to you two now." We go into yet another laughing fit.

"Want breakfast?" I ask them and Ricky nods.

"Sure," Robbie murmurs.

"Goodness. You are not a morning person," I say. He smiles and kisses me. I make pancakes and we all sit together to eat. "This house is huge." Robbie nods, but Ricky just shrugs. "You don't think that it's huge?"

"Yeah, it's enormous, but I've seen big houses my whole life. Now they just don't shock me as much," she explains. Now I understand.

"Do you guys want to go on adventures?" I inquire.

"What do you mean?" Robbie asks.

"Let's go explore the house. I know that we saw it last night when we were looking for pillows, but let's actually look at stuff," I say. "And it would help us put away all of those pillows." They smile and I do too.

When we finish eating we decide to put all the stuff away. First we do the cushions. We have to search all throughout the house, downstairs and up, to put them all back in the sofas. Then we do sheets. That doesn't take as long because there aren't many beds. Then we do blankets. We put the ones that we think look good on each of the beds and put the rest in closets. Then we do the same thing to the pillows. I have no idea where the snake went.

When we're finally done we decide to hang out. We decide to make a club and Ricky says that she could invite some of her friends over to meet us. We agree and they're coming after lunch. They might even sleep over if everyone likes each other. Ricky is even inviting over her boyfriend.

_*TIME PASSAGE*_

"Hello, I'm Jonathon," says Ricky's boyfriend. He's fourteen just like her.

"Hi, I'm Rue," I say.

"So you and Robert already have a house?" he asks. I swallow and Ricky hits him on the arm. "Sorry."

"It's okay," I say.

"I'm Kristen," says one of Ricky's friends. She's thirteen and seems really nice. She has black hair and dark brown eyes. "And that's Sarah," she explains as she points to the girl standing next to Jonathon. She has blonde hair, blue eyes, and something guys like. She's fourteen and seems very stuck up.

"Nice to meet you," I say as I shake Kristen's hand. Sarah doesn't even look up at me. I also shake another guy's hand.

"I'm Conter," he says. I nod and allow Ricky to speak.

"So who wants to make a club?" she asks. Robbie, Kristen, Jonathon, Ricky, Conter, and I all raise our hands. "Sarah?" Sarah whispers something in her ear and she nods. "If you really need to, then go. It's around there." She points the restroom and Sarah runs that way.

"I guess we're making a club," says Jonathon. "Is there another restroom?"

"Yeah," I say. "It's across the hall from the one that Sarah went to."

"Perfect," he sighs happily and practically runs in that direction. _Talk about last minute_.

"Isn't he awesome?" asks Ricky.

"Ricky, we need to tell you something," says Kristen and she points to her and Conter.

"What is it?" asks Ricky.

"Well, Sarah told me. This is the first time I've been around you and not around Sarah or Jonathon," Kristen says.

"What happened?" Ricky asks again.

"Well, Jonathon and Sarah-" she's cut off by someone screaming.

"SNAKE!" yells Sarah. We all run back to the bathroom and see Jonathon and Sarah in one bathroom. The rubber snake is under a towel on the counter. I guess they didn't see it at first. I hear Ricky crying.

"Ricky, what's wrong?" asks Jonathon.

"Oh I think you know!" shouts Ricky. We all say something that relates to the word 'what' and she starts to explain. "Look at them! They're in the same bathroom! Sarah has a mini skirt on and there's underwear on the floor over there! Jonathon's shirt isn't even on and I can see how quickly and horribly the string on Sarah's shirt is tied! Jonathan's pants aren't even on all the way! Do you really think I'm that stupid?"

All of our mouths are gaping open except for Sarah's and Jonathon's. Sarah is biting her lip and Jonathon is shaking his head.

"You piece of scum!" I yell.

"Don't talk to me like that!" screams Jonathon.

"Don't treat my best friend like that!" I shout back. He pushes me and Robbie steps forward to punch him in the face. His nose starts bleeding and I run to Ricky, who is now sitting on the floor, looking red as a tomato, bawling her eyes out.

"I'm out of here," says Jonathon.

"I never want to talk to you again!" yells Ricky.

"Good!" he yells back. This causes her to cry harder.

"Ricky, I'm sorry," says Sarah.

"Obviously not or you wouldn't have done that!" Ricky screams. "Leave!" Sarah grabs her underwear and leaves. Ricky's crying worsens and I sit down and hug her.

"He doesn't deserve you anyways," I whisper. She nods.

"I know," she says. We all laugh quietly, and then everyone is silent.

"So who wants to sleep over?" I ask. Unsurprisingly, everyone sleeps over, and we have fun making the living room a huge fort of blankets.

* * *

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	21. Legal

"Rue, wake up," Robbie says. I open my eyes and see a bear lying next to me in the fort.

"Ah!" I scream, bloody murder. I hear everyone laughing and the bear takes off his head. It was Conter in a ridiculously real-looking costume. "I hate you guys!"

"Its payback," says Robbie as he kisses me on the cheek.

"I'll get you guys next time. Where's Kristen?" I ask.

"She wanted some milk," Ricky says. "She doesn't know that we scared you."

"She's my new best friend," I declare, as she crawls into the fort.

"What?" she asks. "Conter, why do you look like a headless bear?"

"Because they're meanies," I say as they start laughing again. "You're my new best friend, by the way." She smiles and we crawl out of the fort. "Let's jump on the blanket that's on top. It will terrify them. But don't jump on them," I whisper.

We go to the closest spots we can get. We want to jump on it at the same time and be on opposite sides of them.

"One, two, three," she whispers. We jump and everyone screams. We get off and they crawl out from under the blanket.

"What was that for?" they ask.

"Its payback," I say, looking directly at Robbie. I kiss him on the cheek.

"Ha ha, that's very funny," says Conter. I see Ricky looking at him with dazzling eyes.

"Ricky, can I see you in the kitchen please?" I ask. She nods, laughing, obviously knowing that I saw her.

We walk to the kitchen and I close the door.

"You like him," I say, in a hushed tone.

"Maybe, a little bit," she confesses. I smile from ear to ear.

"Ask him out," I say.

She shakes her head, "He'll think I'm just rebounding."

"Whatever. Just ask him," I say.

"Fine," she says. "Do you want to go investigate if it was legal for them to make you get married?"

"Well there's nothing we can do about it now, but sure," I agree. So we walk down to the library in baggy pajama pants and flowy pajama shirts. No one comes with us because they want to rebuild the fort.

When we get there we go straight to the legal section.

"Hello, mini America," the librarian says as she passes by.

"Is she still my mom?" Ricky asks.

"Yes," the librarian confirms. "I heard that you're going through something. I hope it all works out." Ricky nods and the librarian walks away. She looks at me very excitedly.

"She's still my mom! That means I have access to some information!" she exclaims.

"Like what?" I ask.

"Come on," she says. "I'll show you." We walk to the computers and Ricky logs into something. Her account still works because of her mom. She goes to something about laws and marriages. There's something titled _Recent Marriages_.Ricky clicks it and we can see the marriages of this week and last week. My marriage isn't there.

"Ricky, where is it?" I ask her.

"I don't know. Maybe they just haven't put it in here yet," she suggests, but something catches my eye.

"There's a marriage that was done later than ours was. Why would they have skipped ours?" I point out.

"Maybe they messed up. Maybe they didn't legally do it," she proposes. "Let's check."

"How?"

"We'll go to the courthouse. We can ask them what happened." I agree and we walk to the courthouse.

When we arrive we walk in carefully.

"Yes?" a voice calls out. It's the judge that married us. "What do you need?"

"I got married, but apparently it wasn't legal. What's wrong?" I ask.

"I'll see," he says. "Amelia, I need the book!" Amelia comes out of a door holding a large leather book.

"What's happening?" she asks. No one answers her. The judge opens the book and looks down the back page. He looks up and shakes his head.

"For some reason, yours wasn't legal," he says. "Who married you?"

"You," I say. His eyes widen with surprise.

"Why wasn't it legal?" asks Amelia. "Or what do you think happened?"

"Judge, sir, what happened?" Ricky asks.

"I married you, and it wasn't legal?" the judge inquires. I nod. "Oh dear, I think I know what happened. Amelia, my certificate, please." Amelia walks back through the door and returns with a framed certificate. She hands it to the judge and he looks carefully at it. "I see what happened. My job was supposed to be renewed the day before that happened. You were the only ones that I married that day and I haven't married anyone after that. I also didn't marry anyone the day I was supposed to get it renewed. You will have to get married because you aren't right now."

"Yes," I say. I take off the ring and hand it to Ricky. "I have more time. I can live." Amelia runs to me and we hug. "Oh my gosh. I've got to go tell Robbie." I run out of the room and into the hall.

I don't remember how to get home because I wasn't paying attention on the way there the first time. I have to go inside, grab Ricky's hand, and pull her outside. We run to our home and barge in.

"Robbie, come here," I yell. He comes rushing downstairs.

"What's wrong?" he asks. I hold up my hand and he sees my ring finger. "What happened?"

"It wasn't legal!" I shout. I run to him and we kiss. I bend my knees so that he is holding me and he twirls me around.

"So we're not married?" he asks. I shake my head. "Yes!"

"I know right! But now we'll probably have to get married again. That stupid law," I say.

"What's going on?" Kristen asks. I look up and see her and Conter running down the stairs.

"The wedding wasn't legal. We're not married!" Robbie exclaims.

"Congratulations," says Conter. His smile grew the second he heard the words _wasn't_ and _legal_. I'm glad I have friends as good as them. Ricky saw it too, and now I can tell that she is happy, but something made her sad.

"Thanks," I say. "Excuse us." I grab Ricky's hand and take her upstairs. "What's wrong?"

"Did you see his face?" she asks. "He was so happy." I don't see what's wrong here.

"So?" I ask. "What's that mean?"

"He likes you, Rue, not me," she explains.

"I think that he was just being a good friend," I say.

"No, he wasn't. I saw the gleam. That gleam in his eyes. He used to have a girlfriend just like you, but they broke up. He was so in love with her at one point. Every time he looked at her he would get that gleam," she clarifies.

I never thought about Conter like that, but I did think I was married when I met him. The thought of this gives me butterflies, but the law says that I have to marry Robbie.

"It's okay. Even if he did like me, which he doesn't, I have to marry Robbie," I assure her.

She shakes her head. "I'm pretty sure that there's a law that states that if someone loves the person and they love them back that the people don't have to be forced into marriage," she explains. "The law was only made for safety. Imagine you and Robert weren't forced into this so you didn't decide to get married. Now there's a half human half angel walking around. What if no one ever loves this person because they're weird or different?"

"That makes sense. So if someone else loved me and I loved them back and I stopped loving Robbie, then I wouldn't have to marry him?" I question.

She nods. "But the question is, do you like Conter, and could you stop loving Robbie?" she asks.

That's I good question. The only problem is that I can't bring myself to say no.

* * *

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	22. Bruises

"Rue?" Ricky asks me.

"What?"

"Do you like him?"

"I don't… I don't know," I confess. "Let me sleep on it." She nods, looking disappointed, and we walk back to the living room. We join them right as they finish rebuilding the fort, but I'm hungry. "Who's up for food?"

"Me," Conter immediately agrees. Why did he have to say that so enthusiastically?

"I am," Robbie says.

"Me too," says Kristen. Ricky nods.

"I'll go change. Be right back. You guys can just go in random rooms and change. Kristen, Ricky, do you guys need to borrow any clothes?" I suggest.

"I'm good," says Kristen. "I brought clothes with me just in case. Ricky has said that we might end up sleeping over."

"I need some," says Ricky.

"Come on," I say. We go upstairs and down a short hall. We enter a room that has my name on it. They moved all of our stuff over here for us, so I'm hoping it's in here.

I open a dresser in the room and see some clothes. "Take any you want," I say. I grab out some baggy sweatpants and a tight V-neck. I leave the room and go into a bathroom. Right as I'm about to close the door, Robbie walks up.

"Can you come here real quick? I have to say something," he asks. I open the door and step out into the hall. "It seriously wasn't legal?"

I nod. "Yep," I confirm. "We're not married!" He grabs me up in a hug and I burry my face in his shoulder.

"Are you happy?" he asks.

"Of course," I say. "I love you, but I need more time."

"Me too," he says. He kisses me and goes back down the hall. I see that Conter was standing in the hall the whole time.

"Hey," I say.

"So, you guys are going to get married?" he asks.

"Yeah, we are. Why?" I ask.

"Nothing," he says.

"Are you sure?" I ask.

"No," he says, causing me to raise my eyebrows. "It's just that… well… have you ever liked someone who didn't like you back?"

"Yeah," I say.

"I like this girl, but she likes someone else," he says.

I already know the answer, but I still have to ask, "Who is it?"

"I think you know."

"I don't," I lie.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, I'll tell you, but you can't be mad," he says.

"I won't be."

"Promise?"

"Promise," I confirm.

He walks toward me, and I try not to move. I hope that he doesn't try anything.

Too bad, he taunts me, silently, as he leans forward and kisses me. I kiss him back.

* * *

Conter's POV

I lean forward and kiss her. She kisses me back and I'm in heaven –see the irony there? I can't help but feel like we wouldn't have been interrupted, if it wasn't for Ricky.

"Rue?" she squeals in the highest pitch I've ever heard. We break apart and Rue looks straight at her.

"Ricky, I can explain," she says.

"You don't have to explain anything," she cries. "Goodbye, traitor!" She turns and runs down the stairs.

"Ricky!" yells Rue, as she runs after her. What's wrong with Ricky?

* * *

Rue's POV

I run down the stairs. "Ricky, please just listen to me!" I yell.

"No! Just stop talking to me!" she shouts back. She gets off the stairs, followed by me. I see Kristen and realize that if I want to stop Ricky, I have to do it right now.

"Kristen, the door!" I yell. Kristen understands what I mean and runs to block the front door. Ricky comes to a stop. "You aren't going anywhere." She turns around and I see that her face is streaked with tears.

"Just let me go, please," she begs. I shake my head. "Why would you do that?"

"I'm sorry, okay?" I say.

"What happened?" Kristen asks.

I'm about to answer, but Ricky decides to. "Rue was making out with Conter, even though she knew I liked him!" she yells.

"You like Conter?" Kristen asks.

"No, I like_d_ him," admits Ricky. "Not anymore."

"Why?" I ask.

"Because of you!" she yells.

"You can't blame Rue," Kristen says, defending me. "Maybe she likes him too. And he clearly likes her."

Conter comes downstairs. "Is everything okay?" he asks. Kristen lets off her guard, and Ricky almost gets out the door, but Kristen stops her just in time.

"How could you?" she asks.

"How could I what?" Conter questions, not getting what's wrong. Ricky is about to explain what happened when Robbie comes downstairs.

He sees Ricky's tear-streaked face and remembers Jonathon. "Who do I have to beat up this time?" he asks. She points to me and his jaw drops. "What happened?"

"I caught her ki-," she begins, but Kristen puts her hand over her mouth.

"Rue, go tell him yourself," says Kristen. I nod and take one of his hands. I lead him upstairs and into our room.

"What happened?" he asks again.

"Conter and I kind of…" I trail off. "We kissed."

"What?" he asks.

"Conter said that he liked someone. I asked who. He said that I couldn't get mad if he told me. I agreed. He kissed me. I didn't stop him," I explain further. "I was about to, but then Ricky came in and stopped it for us."

He nods. "I see."

"Are you mad?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "At you? No. Excuse me. I have to go do something." He stands up and leaves the room. I follow him and see that he is walking downstairs. Kristen and Conter are talking and I guess that Ricky left.

They hear Robbie coming and look up to see him. Robbie gets right next to him, says something to Kristen that makes her leave happily, and starts talking to Conter. I'm still at the top of the stairs, so I can't hear what he's saying.

I think that everything is going fine, just to be proved wrong. Robbie reaches up and punches Conter in the face. I run downstairs and get there just in time for Conter to get punched a second time. Robbie reaches up again, but I grab his wrist.

"What is wrong with you?" I yell.

"I can't let him get away with this!" he shouts. I scowl at him and grab Conter's wrist. I pull him to the kitchen and help him get some ice.

"Thanks," he says.

"No problem," I say. "Where did Kristen go?"

"She went to smell the fruity soap in the bathroom," he explains. I nod my head and go back to helping him hold up the ice. He pulls it away for a second and I see the purple marks left behind on his eye and cheek. I lean down and kiss both of the bruises. "That feels much better."

* * *

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	23. Beautiful Again

I tell Conter that I'll walk him home. Robbie's not very happy about it, but too bad. He was a jerk, so I'll treat him like he treated others.

We're on our way and I realize how beautiful he is. He has that angelic beauty in his eyes, in his beautiful green eyes. His amazing blonde hair bounces with every swivel of the head. He's only slightly taller than me, which made kissing him very easy. He has muscles, but he's not the gross extremely buff kind of person.

"Rue, can I ask you something?" he asks.

"You just did," I say. He laughs.

"Something else?" he asks. I laugh too.

"Sure. What is it?" I ask.

"Are you sure that you love Robbie?" he asks me.

"Yeah," I tell him. He nods his head. "Now can I ask you something?" He nods again. "Why do you like me?"

"I can't answer that," he says, causing me to raise my eyebrows.

"Will you yell me if I kiss you?" I ask.

"I thought you loved Robbie," he mumbles.

"I do," I confirm.

"You love him, but you would still kiss me?" he asks.

"I guess," I say.

"Then you don't love him," he says.

"But… I love him," I argue.

"Apparently not," he counters. I kiss him, just to shut him up. "And you prove my point."

"What do you mean?"

"If you really loved him then you wouldn't have just kissed me."

"Well…I do love him."

"You don't act like it."

"Why do you keep pestering me about this?" I ask.

"I just want you to make sure that you actually love him before you get married to him."

"There's no way for me to not marry him, so it wouldn't even make a difference."

"I remember Ricky mentioning it to us when she first learned about the law. She was a little kid and found the acception. We didn't even know you guys back then."

"Why are you saying this?"

"What if someone loves you?" he asks.

"No one else loves me," I argue.

"Yeah, they do," he says.

"Who?" I ask.

"Someone in this hall. You can see them," he explains.

"I can only see you," I say. "And you don't love me. You only like me."

"How do you know?" he asks me. I stop walking and he stands in front of me. He grabs my waist and pulls right in front of him. He begins to kiss me and I kiss back…again.

_Wow. He's a really good kisser. _

We pull away and I look him in the eyes. "Where did that come from?" I ask him.

"I love you," he says. He kisses me on the lips briefly.

"Why?" I ask again.

"Because, you're beautiful, and funny, and smart, and you're not afraid to be yourself," he explains. We get to his door.

"I have to go," I say. He nods.

"Goodbye, Beautiful," he says. He kisses me on the lips and goes inside.

I turn around and walk back down the hall. I'm looking down at my feet, so I can't pay attention to where I'm going. If there was a giant wall in front of me, I would be wiping bricks off my face. If I would miss a brick wall, I would definitely miss a person.

Imagine running into someone who you hate. Imagine running into someone you met in the Games. Imagine running into someone that killed you. Yeah, you've got it right. I run right into Marvel, the psychotic killer from District 1.

* * *

**Sorry that it took me so long to post this. I also apologize for how short it is. I've been really REALLY busy lately, but I've still been trying as hard as I could.**

**If the time between the chapters is killing you and you haven't read my story Define Love, check it out. It's finished and I think you would like it :)**


	24. Charades

We both stand there for a second, staring at each other. I almost turn around and walk away, but I remind myself that I'm out of the Games. He can't kill me.

"How did _you _get to heaven?" I hiss.

"Excuse me?" he asks in a threatening tone.

"You heard me. You killed me. How did you get to be here?" I say.

"You had better shut up!" he yells.

"You have no right to yell at me!" I scream. "You _killed_ me!" I turn around and walk back in the direction to Conter's room. I hear footsteps behind me and I know he's following me. I'm trying to think of good come-backs; maybe he's doing that too.

"Oh yeah, it's just the same," he calls out. I hear his footsteps stop.

I turn around. "What's the same?"

"The way the back of your head looks. It didn't change since I saw you running away screaming. Katniss! Katniss! Help me!" he mocks me.

"You shut your mouth!" I yell, my face turning red, my eyes swelling with tears.

I hear a door open and turn around to see Conter. "What's going on?"

"My little friend, Marvel, seems to have forgotten that he brutally killed me!" I yell, turning back to face the guy that I have to stop myself from punching. If I didn't half self control, Marvel would be running away screaming with a black eye.

"What?" asks Conter, mouth gaping.

"Yeah, I killed this little twit!" yells Marvel.

"That's it!" I scream. I run forward, grab Marvel's arm, and bite. He yells, but I only bite down harder. I feel Conter's hands on my hips. He tries to pull me away, and eventually I stop biting him. I see a purple mark on his arm where an immediate bruise has formed.

"What is _wrong_ with you?" he asks.

"Coming from the guy who _killed me_!" I yell.

"Break it up!" Conter yells, getting in between me and my new enemy. "Just stop!" I follow Conter's command and back away. I walk into his room screaming words that I probably shouldn't say again.

I hear Conter follow me and he closes the door. I look around and see that his place looks like my old one.

I sit on a couch and out my face in my hands. I begin to cry and Conter immediately sits next to me. He puts his arm around me and makes soothing sounds.

"It's okay," he says. "Shhhhh."

"How did he get here?" I ask.

"What do you mean?" Conter asks.

"Why did he get to come to heaven? He killed me!" I exclaim.

"He was forced to kill you," he explains. "It wouldn't be right to deny the entry into heaven to every child who killed someone in the Hunger Games."

I wipe away my tears and look at the ceiling.

"I hate him!" I scream.

"I know," he says. I look at a clock on the wall and see that it's 11:30, and I notice that I'm really tired. "Shouldn't you be getting back?"

"Nah," I say. "Can I just stay here for the night?"

"Are you sure?" he asks.

"Yeah, I'm too tired to go all the way back," I say. "Plus, Robbie is still probably really mad."

"Won't he just get madder?" asks Conter.

"Yeah, probably, whatever," I say. Conter grins. "Where can I sleep?

"Do you want me to pull out the couch?" he asks. I nod as I notice the two small bruises on his cheek.

"Do you want some more ice?" I ask.

"Sure, thanks." I walk through the door with the sign that says _Kitchen _and get some ice. I wrap it up with a paper towel and go back to the living room.

I hand it to him and he holds it up to his cheek. I see that he's already pulled out the couch. He also put a blanket and a pillow.

"Goodnight," I say.

"Goodnight," he says. He starts walking to the room with his name on it, but I stop him. "What?"

"Are you sure that I don't have to marry Robby?" I ask. He nods.

"Why?"

"Just wondering," I say. He nods and goes in his room.

I lie down on the couch/bed and close my eyes.

"_Rue, do you take him to be your husband?" asks a pastor. I nod. You can't see the man I'm about to marry. The pastor turns to the man and asks him the same question, skipping over his name. _

"_I do." _

"_You may now kiss the bride," says the pastor. The man leans forward and we kiss. We pull away and I look down at my hand. There is a ring on my finger, and I smile. I finally look at the man, and I see Conter. My smile grows bigger._

"_I love you," he says._

"_I love you too."_

I wake up. There are tears in my eyes and I kick off the blanket. I walk to the kitchen and get a drink of water. The door opens and I turn around. It's Conter.

"You're awake?" I ask. He nods. "Why?"

"I couldn't sleep," he explains. "You?"

"I just woke up," I tell him. He looks at me. "What?"

"Is something wrong?" he asks. I shake my head. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, really," I say. It wouldn't convince a fish.

"Tell me," he says.

"I don't know how to say it," I explain.

"Then, let's play charades," he says, laughing.

"Okay," I say. I hold up three fingers.

"Three words," he says. I touch my nose, confirming that he's right. I hold up 1 finger and point to my eye. "I" I touch my nose. I hold up 3 fingers and point to him. I want to save the second word for last. "Me?" I shake me head "You?" I touch my nose and he smiles. "What's the second word?" I hold up 2 fingers. I close my eyes; I'm so scared to say it. I point to my heart. "Heart?" I shake my head. He bites his lip, deep in thought. "What does it start with?" I put out my thumb and pointer finger to make an "L." He bites his lip again. This time he understands. "Love?"

I touch my nose.

* * *

**All of you can thank **HungerGames6 **for this chapter. Thanks for getting me to write it!**

**And don't be mad at them if oyu don't like them. She didn't say to write the things that happened. She just said to update. **

**Review right now! Just so you guys know, I update more if I get reviews or PMs. So if you want me to update, please review.**


	25. Her Diamonds

_And she says, "Ooh, I can't take no more."_

_Her tears like diamonds on the floor._

_And her diamonds bring me down,_

_'cause I can't help her._

_Now, she's down in it. _

_She tried her best and now she can't win._

_It's hard to see them on the ground._

_Her diamonds coming down._

-Rob Thomas (Her Diamonds)

* * *

He doesn't believe me at first. He just stands there, mouthing gaping open, eyes wide with disbelief.

"What?" he asks. I just look down at my feet. "But, what about Robbie?"

"I don't know," I say. "I've only figured this much out."

"Wow," he says. "Really?" I nod. He steps forward, puts his arms around me, and kisses me. I kiss him back. He pulls away. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," I confirm, looking away.

"How do you know?" he asks me.

"I had a dream," I say. "When I woke up, I challenged myself about it, but then I was really happy to see you awake. I was really happy to get to see, to talk to you. I knew that my dream wasn't a lie." He just stands there. "What's wrong?"

"Are you sure?" he asks again. I nod. "And you don't love Robbie?"

"I love you," I say. "That's all I know." I step forward, kiss him on the cheek, and run out of the kitchen. I run out the door and down the hall. I hear him calling for me to come back, but I can't. I just can't.

I reach my home and open the door. I see Robbie asleep on the couch. He wakes up when I slam the door.

"You're back?" he asks. I run up the stairs crying. I run to our room and slam the door. I hear a gentle knock on the door as I sit on the bed. "Rue?"

"Go away," I say. He opens the door and walks in. _Note to self: next time, lock the door._

"Rue, what's wrong?" he whispers.

"I don't know!" I yell.

"You don't know what's wrong?" he asks, confused this time.

"I don't know who I love," I confess. I look down at my hands and Robbie looks straight at me.

"What? I thought you loved me," he whispers, tears forming in his eyes.

"I did too," I say. "But now, I don't know."

"Why did it suddenly change?" he asks.

"I learned that if I love someone else, and they love me, that I don't have to marry you," I explain, tears running down my cheeks.

"Do you love him?" Robbie asks. "Do you love Conter?"

"I don't know," I say. "I really don't know." He kisses me and I kiss him back. We pull away. "I still don't know."

"Why?" he asks. "I love you, Rue."

"I can't explain it. He makes me feel special and happy."

"And I don't?" he asks in a hurt tone.

"You do, but he's different," I say. "I just can't explain it. I'm _so_ sorry."

"I need to know. I literally need to know," he begins. "Who do you love?"

I look him in the eyes. I open my mouth to say that I don't know, but we hear another knock on the door. Robbie opens it and I see his muscles tense. It's Conter.

"Rue?" he asks. "What happened?" I can't answer, instead Robbie does.

"What happened was that you messed up her life and made her all confused. We were happy, but you had to come around and try to steal her from me!" Robbie yells.

"Robbie, stop," I whisper. I lean forward and put my hand on his arm.

"Yeah, dude, I didn't mean to do anything," says Conter.

"Are you sure? Because it really seems like you're trying to steal Rue from me!" Robbie yells again.

"Dude, I didn't mean to do anything!" Conter yells back.

"Y'all stop," I say, more assertive than last time.

"You made the first move! You kissed her!" Robbie yells.

"Once! She made the first move this time!" Conter shouts back.

I know Robbie very well, so when I notice the way his fingers are twitching, I'm worried. He's about to do something; something violent.

"You guys!" I scream at the top of my lungs. They both look at me, red faces, jaw muscles tense. "Just stop it, please!" The crying is more aggressive now. "You're not helping at all!"

I get up and storm out of the room. I slam the door behind me and run down the stairs. I run out the door and down the hall. I don't even know where I'm going. I just go.

Then, I know where I'm going. I stop dead in my tracks as I pull up to America and Ricky's house.

"I must be crazy," I whisper as I knock on the door. After about five minutes, America opens it.

"What do _you_ want?" she asks. "Why do you need something this early?" I notice that it's 6 o'clock and mentally punch myself.

"The wedding wasn't legal," I whisper. She raises her eyebrows.

"Really?" she asks. I bite my lip and nod. "Wow." She's astonished.

"I have a question," I randomly blurt out. I wasn't planning to say that, it just happened.

"What is it?"

"Why….. Why do you have that law?" I ask. "The one about us having to get married."

She sighs. "So you won't be alone." So Ricky was right.

"What if… What if I wouldn't be alone?" I ask.

"What do you mean?" she asks, clearly curious.

"What if I loved someone else and they loved me?" I ask. She raises her eyebrows. "Just a hypothetical."

"Well then, I guess you wouldn't have to get married," she explains. "Who is it?"

"I said it was a hypothetical," I tell her.

"I know. Someone once told me they had found an elephant in an oak tree. People lie," she says in her know-it-all voice.

"I'm not sure," I whisper.

"What?" she asks, surprised I answered her at all.

"I don't know if I love the guy or Robbie," I confess. A tear runs down my face and falls off, like a cannon ball, headed straight for the floor.

She just reaches up and pokes my halo. "Remember this?" she asks. I nod. "Who'd you get it for?" I open my mouth to say _Robbie_, but you put your finger in front of my mouth, as if I was saying _SHHHH _but was paralyzed in my arms and you were helping me. "Don't tell me. Tell yourself," she whispers, pulling away her arm. She turns around and goes back inside. The door closes and I'm at a loss for words.

_Was America just genuinely nice to me?_


	26. Help AN

Hey! Sorry, but this just has to happen…

I got a really mean flame review. It said that this story was stupid… :'(

I thought about. They're right. It's not a good story :(

So, I have to decide between deleting the whole thing and starting over at a different point.

I was really close to the end, but Shelby4017 was right, this story is stupid

Tell me what you think I should do…

-BookAddiction24 (ally)


	27. normal

Way 1:

When I get back home, I see that both of the guys are there.

"I'm too young for love," I say. I reach up, grab the halo and, with all my strength, rip it off.

There's no pain. It just feels like someone connected 100,000 pound weights to my feet. I fall to the ground and, of course, both guys automatically think I'm dying.

Long story short: they made me lie down and wouldn't let me get up for an hour. When I finally convinced them to let me stand up, I noticed the hurt look in both of their eyes.

"I'm sorry," I say. A tear runs down my cheek and I realize that I won't be with either of them.

* * *

Way 2:

I bang on the door again. America opens it, clearly angered.

"Please don't make me get married! Please! I'm begging you!"

She nods and I'm confused. What? What? "What?"

"I can make an acception," she whispers, smiling. I get on the floor, hug her legs, and cry tears of joy.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" I yell. She smiles again and tells me to go home.

* * *

(from here on) ending:

I got to move in with Ricky and America (it turns out she's actually nice) and I don't have to marry anyone that I don't want to.

Robbie still talks to me, a lot. Conter basically forgot I existed. I can't believe that Robbie is still talking to me! I thought he would hate me! One day I asked him why he still talks to me, his answer surprised me. He said, "Humans get a second chance at life. Earth, then Heaven. I don't see why everyone can't get a second chance." He kissed me on the cheek and left.

I have to admit, I still like him. I blushed so much I looked like a tomato. I'm so glad he walked away and couldn't see.

* * *

We found out that Jonathon and Sarah weren't cheating. They just didn't get a chance to explain themselves in the midst of all the mayhem. I still don't know what happened because Ricky goes into a laughing fit every time she tries to tell me.

* * *

Basically, now we're just normal kids. Nothing weird (except that I'm dead…) so my life isn't really exciting anymore, so I don't see why I should keep telling you everything.

I bid you all goodbye. Just remember, live life while you have it.

* * *

**Sorry that this stinks so bad...**

**I got so many resposes about what I could change and a lot of them were from the very beginning, or things that I couldn't change because Suzzanne Collins wouldn't appreciate it :\**

**Some of the things that you guys said truely touched me :) I actually started crying. CRYING! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT! If you guys ever start a new story, make sure it makes sense and that you have it planned out. Don't make it as you go.**

**I am TRUELY sorry that it had to end this way :'( great... I'm crying again :) You guys rock and I couldn't have asked for better readers.**

**PM me when you make a new story or have a story you want me to check out. I'll always look if you PM me about it :) y'all rock! :')**

**-Ally**


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